The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya
by GodricDamp
Summary: Haruhi Suzumiya has the ability to shape the world to her will, that much we all know. But when the world displeases her, she may choose to cast it aside for something better and create the universe anew. This is story of the worlds that were cut short by Haruhi, destroyed in her eternal pursuit of a perfect high school life.
1. Chapter 1

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter One**

The autumn of my second year was in full swing, yet it was still surprisingly warm, as I tried to doze through another English class at North High School. But my chance at peaceful slumber was constantly interrupted by a rhythmic thumping in the back of my chair. I looked around to glare at the perpetrator and was met by the million megawatt smile of Haruhi Suzumiya.

If I was bored by the lesson, I couldn't imagine how Haruhi was dealing with it, no doubt desperate to drag me off on another hare brained scheme. Unfortunately for my backside, Haruhi couldn't handle her boredom in a normal, healthy, way by falling asleep or staring out the window. Instead, she spent it depriving me of my beauty sleep like a mischievous demon from some old fable. I tried to edge my chair and desk out of range of her swinging feet, but the scraping noise alerted the teacher who glowered me into submission. So continued this painfully normal part of yet another school day and frankly the monotony of it was starting to give me a headache. I closed my eyes against the throb and leant heavily on my hand, only to be jostled into wakefulness as Haruhi struck again, sending my palm scraping up the side of my face.

After what felt like centuries and with a collected sigh of relief, the class ended. But I knew that I would have no time to relax as I readied myself for the inevitable. I'd just managed to get a hold of my bag, when an expected hand grabbed my tie and yanked me towards the door. I shrugged at Kunikida and Taniguchi as they looked at me with pity, shaking their heads as I was dragged into the corridor. Why Haruhi couldn't just ask me to come with her like a normal person was beyond me, but then Haruhi was as far removed from normal as it was possible to be.

After some struggling, I managed to detach myself from her clutches and had to almost jog to keep up with her determined strides. "So, what's got you so excited?" I asked as I tried to hide my dread at the answer.

Haruhi grinned with light chuckle, "No spoilers Kyon, you'll have to wait till we get to the club room and then I'll make an announcement to the whole brigade."

"I can't wait," I sighed without enthusiasm, but Haruhi didn't seem to notice.

The club room was the same as always, with Koizumi idly playing solitaire with a pack of cards. Whilst Asahina looked cute as always in her maid outfit as she brewed some tea and Nagato was surprise, surprise, reading a book. They barely reacted to the commotion that was Haruhi, when she burst into the room with an extravagant greeting. She immediately launched into a dramatic explanation of her latest scheme, while I collapsed into a seat opposite Koizumi, gratefully accepting a cup of tea from Asahina and tuned out Haruhi's rantings.

It didn't seem like anyone else was particularly interested either, Asahina was so lost in thought that the tea she was pouring overflowed the cup and began to pool on the table. It took quite a few seconds before our brigade's mascot noticed and began to frantically clean it up in a squeaking panic. Koizumi had his usual irritating smile on his lips, but it was the only part of the esper's face that was smiling. He absent-mindedly shuffled the cards in elaborate motions, automatically making vague affirmations to whatever Haruhi was on about. Nagato was still buried in her book, but the little humanoid interface seemed to have slumped under the weight of her shoulders, turning the pages with ever decreasing speed.

They all looked dead tired from dealing with Haruhi day in, day out. It took its toll on me, so I couldn't imagine what they had to go through, especially with all the responsibilities their superiors loaded in on top. Though over the last week or so, things had definitely become worse, there has always been at least some enthusiasm from the three of them. But now they just sat there listlessly, all motivation gone, just waiting to get their next assignment over and done with.

"Haruhi" I said cutting in whatever she'd been saying, causing her to stop with a confused noise as she realised I was talking. "Haruhi, why don't we take a break for a while, you know just take some time off to relax and have fun."

I could feel the other three's eyes watching me intently as Haruhi replied in a hurt voice, "but this is going to fun, isn't it guys?" She looked hopefully at the others for encouragement, but only received polite confirmations from Koizumi and Asahina, while Nagato went back to her book.

"It will be fun, I'll show you look," Haruhi said with desperate determination and off she went again. I sighed at the spinelessness of my comrades and slumped forward onto the table, watching Haruhi's one man show over crossed arms. She was busy covering the club's whiteboard with gibberish and I tried to decipher it, but my tired brain couldn't make heads, nor tails of any of it. Asahina stared blankly at the board, occasionally putting a finger to her ear and nodding slightly. It was surprisingly to see the timid time traveller even hinting at her origins in front of Haruhi, but Asahina didn't seem to care any more.

Koizumi dealt some cards to me, heedless of Haruhi's complex plans and I looked at my card hand despondently as he smiled back. Nagato had finished her book and stared at the planes in sky with no interest in the world inside the club room.

After a while Haruhi seemed to notice the apathy in the room and slowly ran out of steam. "Well, that will do for today," she said awkwardly before turning to me with a last jump of enthusiasm. "Come on Kyon, you're going to help me get all the things we'll need."

I had no idea what I was getting into, but there was no refusing our great leader and honestly, I wanted to get out of here. So with a sigh I hefted myself to my feet and yawned before slinging my bag over my shoulder. The other three watched me, exchanging looks as a quiet voice suddenly said, "Kyon, there is a matter I wish discuss with you."

It took me a moment to register the speaker, when I clocked Nagato's large cold eyes staring intently at me. Before I could respond, Haruhi jumped in with, "Yuki if you need to talk to someone, I'm always ready to listen."

"No, it is a topic I need to discuss with him, you may leave." Nagato said bluntly, before adding as an afterthought, "thank you."

Haruhi looked so startled, that Koizumi quickly covered Nagato with, "actually I was wanting to talk with Kyon myself." His smile became increasingly forced as he awkwardly continued with, "you know, boy's stuff."

Koizumi's grin was so disturbingly broad, that I was more than little worried what this 'boy's stuff' might entail. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew that this meant some problem related to Haruhi, I would have probably run a mile. Asahina looked like she was readying an excuse to keep me here, so I said with forced casualness, "you go on ahead Haruhi. I'm sure this won't take long and I'll catch you up later."

"Oh, okay," said Haruhi with disappointment, "Meet me at the cafe once you're done here." She slung her bag and headed out the door, before turning back to say with an attempt at her usual enthusiasm. "Oh and as punishment for this, you'll be buying."

I felt that was a tad unfair as I wasn't the one that had chosen this, but it seemed important enough to the others to risk Haruhi's wrath. I gave an affirmative wave of how little I cared and watched as she vanished out the door. Once the sound of her shoes had faded, I turned to the others and sighed. "Okay what has she done now?"

Koizumi and Asahina looked at Nagato, but she seemed deep in thought. Her silence irritated me after she'd insisted on wanting to 'discuss' something so urgently. Asahina sat down next to me in a rustle of petticoats, looking at me closely with her puppy dog eyes. She was sitting a little too close for a girl this cute and I was starting to feel uncomfortable, when she said with concern, "how are feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," I stammered. "A little headache earlier, but your tea sorted that out."

"That's great," Asahina said with an impossibly cute blush. "I was hoping the new blend I was trying might help, I added something to help counteract the effects of 'classified.'" Her censor snapped her out the conversation and she looked embarrassed, as I started to wonder what the hell she'd put in my tea. Before I could demand a better explanation, Asahina's tone slid back to concern as she enquired awkwardly. "Anything else, any feelings of déjà vu or something like that?"

"Occasionally I suppose," I said vaguely before the confused memories of that endless summer the previous year rose from the depths of my mind. With dread I asked, "déjà vu, please don't tell me we're going through all that again?" I groaned as I put my head in my hands, "I swear I've done all my homework, so don't start blaming me." I looked at Nagato for explanation, but her expression was as always frustratingly neutral, though her haunted eyes hinted at the nightmare she'd endured.

"If only it were that simple," laughed Koizumi without much conviction. "It would seem if Nagato's theories are correct, that Suzumiya has quite out done herself this time."

His unhelpful smile and even less helpful words were really starting to grate on me as I asked, "and I repeat, what has she done this time?"

"Well the time of it is, rather a complex question," replied Koizumi philosophically.

I sighed, I'd had enough of this, they can deal with whatever it is, I'm getting out of here. I grabbed my bag and said irritably, "let me know when you get to the point."

"Kyon, please wait," exclaimed Asahina and I turned to give her a withering look, which sent her back to her chair.

Nagato finally chose this moment to say, "I will attempt to explain, but this concept is not easy to explain in human terms." Her voice was so quiet that I was forced to go over and sit with her, she probably had to dumb down this theory so that my no doubt primitive mind could comprehend it.

"The Data Integration Thought Entity has been considering this possibility for some time and has bent its considerable will in the hope of disproving it, but the evidence is inescapable." There was an unusually troubled expression on Nagato's face as she continued, "Through consultation with our counterparts at Kouyouen Academy and some, experimentation on my part, we have been able to confirm that we are within a massive temporal anomaly."

I glanced at the others who were both listening intently, there wasn't a trace of a smile of Koizumi's face now. The seriousness of his expression spoke of the gravity of the situation, far more than any words. "I would like to know more about these, experiments," He said with curiosity. "My Organisation would like to check these findings for themselves."

I on the other hand would like the Entity and the Organisation, to hurry up with telling me what was going on. Feeling like I was being forced to ask the obvious I said with a sigh, "so how big is this 'anomaly?'"

"Our combined analysis has found that the events of the previous summer were only a fraction of Suzumiya's true ability," said Nagato flatly. "It would appear this loop in time, expands across the last four years, to a variable point in the near future."

It was so subtle, but sitting this close you could see the scars of untold repeated centuries haunting those alien eyes. It was so easy to get lost looking into them, that for a second a thought I saw another Nagato smiling shyly up at me. I shook away the confusing image as my mind began to throb again with the thousand questions that rattled in my brain.

So I asked more simply, "how long has this been happening, I mean how many times have we been through this?"

Nagato seemed almost ashamed as she revealed hesitantly, "I do not know. I have managed to establish limited contact with some versions of myself from previous iterations, though I am limited to versions that were interfaces of the Data Integration Thought Entity."

"So the Entity doesn't exist in all traversals of temporal loop?" Asked Asahina in surprise.

"No, it has proven more challenging to access the memories of my predecessors who are other types of alien life form, but even more so the ones that were..." Nagato paused and looked at her tiny hands with what I think was sadness, "...human."

Even though it was slight, seeing this much emotion in that usually blank face was unnerving to say the least. I tried to push the conversation on by asking, "So these 'iterations' are different each time?"

"Yes," Nagato said slowly, "there is a greater degree of variance than what we experienced the previous summer. But on the whole the five existing members of the SOS Brigade are a constant, though the natures of Koizumi, Asahina and myself, vary."

The other two seemed concerned by this, while was more curious about my own fate as I asked, "but Haruhi and me stay the same?"

"For the most part, Suzumiya's eccentricities have grown over time. Whereas yourself," Nagato halted as she seemed to be considering the correct way to put it." I believe that you are aware subconsciously of the anomaly and the fatigue of reliving these years has affected, your enjoyment of life."

I shrugged dismissively, I certainly didn't remember all these loops, surely everyone experienced déjà vu at some point. It definitely didn't mean that Haruhi was making us live our high school years over and over again. As for my joie de vivre, it wasn't easy staying cheerful when I was constantly getting mixed up in all this and having to listen to this crazy talk. I looked at Koizumi and Asahina, asking them, "so you two believe all this?"

Koizumi considered before saying, "While I do find the concept rather intriguing. There are some elements to Nagato's theory that I'm not positive on or more correctly I believe that her solution suffers from a fatal flaw."

Intriguing would be last thing I'd call it, so I looked at the rather nervous Asahina, who said. "It certainly fits with 'classified' issues within our studies of 'classified information.' Though it can be difficult to analyse 'classified' from this point in 'classified'..." She trailed off forlornly in a string of 'classifieds,' before shouting "classified" with frustration in the manner of a curse. I wondered what kind of future swear word was so bad that it had to be classified, though maybe it was just to protect me from hearing such foul language, from such a cute girl.

"Surely from the future you can get a better picture of what is going on within these loops," I said, "I'm assuming you can still contact the future?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid it doesn't work like that," Said Asahina fretting. "The scope of these loops is 'classified.'"

Asahina sighed and gave up, slumping against the table top in pitiful pile of lace. Nagato spoke up and explained. "The magnitude of these anomalies is far greater than time, space and even the Data Integration Thought Entity. Everything is reset, everything is changed to suit Suzumiya's desires and it is this that has sent the Entity into disarray."

"Reset to what and when?" I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

"To the night of Tanabata four years ago," said Nagato. "Though the circumstances involving Haruhi and yourself drawing the signal on the school field differ greatly between iterations."

"Why doesn't that surprise me," I sighed, "I wonder why Haruhi likes that night so much?"

The three of them looked at each other knowingly, but didn't answer. So I asked the big question without enthusiasm, "So what are we going to do about it or at the very least can we do anything about it?" I had a bad feeling I was about to roped into doing something stupid, but I sat there tapping my fingers on the table until someone answered.

"Most of the resets occur when Suzumiya becomes dissatisfied with the world and attempts to change things to conform to her new desires." Nagato said almost bitterly. "The most common cause of dissatisfaction is you."

"Seriously," I exclaimed, "what did I do?"

Koizumi let out a bark of a laugh, while Asahina looked away from me, leaving Nagato to continue with. "Most resets are triggered when you are perceived to be entering a relationship with someone other than Suzumiya. I believe you remember when you and Suzumiya became trapped in another world, but you acted in a way that convinced her to return?"

It wasn't like I'd forget kissing Haruhi, especially while surrounded by giants in strange grey world. It may have just been a dream to her, but the touch of Haruhi's lips as I held her in my arms had been very real to me. "Yeah," I stammered awkwardly at the memory, " but I don't see how..."

"That was reaction to your attention being too focussed on Asahina," said Nagato bluntly as Asahina whimpered. "Though previous iterations have also involved interactions with; Asakura, Sasaki, Tsuruya, Koizumi and..." I was about to protest while Koizumi raised an amused eyebrow. But I was silenced when Nagato's slightly harsh tone suddenly became quiet as she added, "...myself."

My mouth flapped wordlessly, as I tried to think what to say to all that. Sure Haruhi could go into a massive sulk when she didn't get her own way, but all this, it was beyond even her. "Look," I said bluntly. "Haruhi has made it clear to me that she thinks romance is stupid, I doubt that she'd rip apart the world over and over just for me."

"If only a lady's heart was so simple my friend," chuckled Koizumi, "even you must realise that by now. Surely it isn't that big a hardship for you to confess to such a fine young woman, should be no problem for gentleman such as yourself."

His casual smile was particularly grating right now and judging by the looks he was getting; the two ladies here weren't impressed either. "If it's that easy, why don't you have a go?" I snapped, "I'm sure that stupid grin of yours can charm even her."

Koizumi's face flashed with anger before he yanked that false smile back on to his lips and said with shrug. "Believe me, if Suzumiya had any interest in myself, this whole situation would have never have happened."

The thinly veiled contempt in his voice made me want to punch him, when Nagato pointed out in an exceptionally cold voice. "All attempts by Itsuki Koizumi to enter a relationship with Suzumiya have ended in failure, but have never caused enough stress to make her reset anything."

I gave him a smug smile, which Koizumi returned with an uncaring one of his own, probably to try and hide the dark look in his eyes. My smile was short lived as Nagato added. "But all prior attempts by yourself have also ended in failure, always ending in a reset."

I looked a Nagato incredulously and said, "Then why in the hell are trying to get me to ask her out then?"

"Because all evidence indicates that her emotions towards you are the primary cause of the anomaly," Nagato said.

"Then wouldn't it be better to wait it out than risk another one?" I asked.

"That has been attempted twice, but also ended in failure," stated Nagato. "It appears that reaching the conclusion of high school without any relationship occurring distresses her enough to reset again."

"If she liked me so much, she'd have asked me out by now," I snapped with irritation.

This time Asahina piped up, blushing with awkwardness as she said, "Suzumiya is a passionate person and regardless of her abilities, she is still a teenage girl. She has always been inspired by how things are done in stories, so it shouldn't be a surprise that her desire for romance is based on those concepts. You must be able to see how close you've become over the last few years, she trusts you far more than the rest of us and she has been quite forward with you, only you're..."

Asahina trailed off into her idiotically fretful mutterings, leaving Koizumi to finish off with a sneered. "Imperceptive, obtuse, thick as..."

"Whatever," I cut in, glaring at the smiling esper. "Do you really expect me to believe this fairy tale nonsense, that I'll confess my undying love and suddenly everything will be okay. Haruhi's many things, but she's not crazy enough to want me riding up in shining armour. I'll allow that the 'real world' is a shaky concept with her around, but I thought you three had more sense than that."

I grabbed my bag and headed for the door, throwing back, "This is just stupid, I'd better go catch up with her, hopefully she won't 'reset the world' just because I'm late from listening to all this crap."

I stormed off, leaving Koizumi and his 'I told you so' shrug behind. I let my feet do the navigation as I fumed my way down the hill into town. What were those guys trying to pull, Haruhi has done some outlandish things in her time, but resetting the world because of me, hardly?

Yeah I'd thought about asking her out, few guys wouldn't, she was smart, pretty and that smile of hers was incredible. But she was also off her rocker, dealing with her part time was hard enough, but dealing with all the time would be impossible. Even if I did and she said yes, would that be end to this mess. If what they said was true, then every time we had an argument, Haruhi would snap her fingers and we'd be back to where we started. Though it was strange how easily I just accepted this whole idea of these time loops, maybe I was just used to this particular brand of crazy or maybe I knew somehow they were right.

Well not entirely, whatever Haruhi's problem was, it wasn't me and I was sure the truth of that would out itself eventually. She spent most of her time bothering me with orders and dragging me along on insane quests, hardly the actions of a girl in love. I'd never seen her mooning over me or leaving notes in my locker that said anything other than, 'be at some such place now.' It was bad enough being bossed around by her, but I was sick of being ordered around by the other three. Telling me where to be, what to do and now how to feel.

Anyway it wasn't like being stuck at school was that bad, certainly beat adult life with its jobs, kids and mortgages. Now I knew the universe would probably loop on itself regardless, I could relax about my exams and enjoy the rest of school life. Thinking about it like that made me feel a little better about the situation despite my anger at the others. When I reached the café with a show of breathlessness, I was met by an equally angry Haruhi, who shouted "What time you call this?" heedless of the busy café around us.

I ignored her and collapsed into a seat at our usual table, looking up at her pout with tired eyes as I asked, "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Said Haruhi, "I want an explanation, I want..."

"To drink, Haruhi," I sighed as I cut in. "You said I was buying."

Haruhi stopped as she was caught off guard, then said stiffly. "Because you took so long I had to get it myself," pointing at a half drunk tea and crumb covered plate. I shrugged, relieved to be only spending my meagre finances on myself, as I ordered a coffee from the waitress.

"Look Haruhi, you know why I was late," I said with exasperation. "I was helping the others with some stuff and it ended up taking longer than I thought, sorry."

"What did they want, it is the duty of the brigade leader to look after her subordinates." Haruhi asked dramatically for adding with quieter concern, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

I struggled to think of answer, it wasn't like I could say, 'hey Haruhi here's a laugh, they want us to out so you'll stop resetting the universe.' Because I wasn't sure she would laugh and I'd no idea what would happen if I asked her about these time loops. I mean did Haruhi have any inkling about what she was doing to the world, did she get déjà vu like the rest of us or was it all buried so deep that she never knew?

My silence was beginning to make her concerned, so I said casually, "nothing much, don't worry about it."

But it was clear that it did worry her as she looked downcast as she sipped her tea. "Why is it always like that?" Haruhi asked, "you four always seem to be busy talking or doing stuff together, but when I ask, all I get are vague answers. Don't think I haven't noticed you all having so much fun, that you're too tired to do anything I want to do. Sometimes it feels like you're all trying to avoid me, especially when everything seems to stop as soon as walk in the club room door."

Considering how much our 'fun' consisted of cleaning up the mess Haruhi had created while having her own fun. That her incessant escapades had driven some of the brigade to the brink of madness and despair. Yeah, it wasn't surprising that we'd all started resenting our glorious leader a little and I'd been increasingly wondering if they only way to get break would be to convince Haruhi of the truth behind her nature. The closer we became made it much harder to keep lying to her, I hated how it made me feel, but what else could I do?

"It's just that the Brigade's activities can be so intense, that we can get a bit tired out. For starters, I think Nagato is still recovering from that illness, then Asahina has all her third year exams to worry about and Koizumi has err, girl problems." I bundled together from the first thoughts in my head in hoping they sounded convincing as I ploughed on with. "Maybe you should let them have a break for a bit, then I'm sure they will ready for whatever you can throw at them." I tried to sound encouraging even though wasn't sure why I was covering for them. But it was clear they were all in a bad way, otherwise they'd never have been even considering their ridiculous plan.

Haruhi nodded as she considered this, then look at me intently as she said, "What about you Kyon, are you needing a break from me. You always seem ready to jump up and help the others, yet I have to practically force you to be around me. When was the last time we hung out together, just the two of us?"

Haruhi's voice had become unnaturally quiet for her, as those big brown eyes bore into my soul, searching for answers. I struggled to recall the last time we had, because with all the messing about with time, I couldn't be sure what Haruhi remembered and even my own memories were muddled. I hung my head in shame, unable to meet her gaze as I admitted that I didn't know. So I tried to quickly change track as I suggested, "Well are you free at the weekend, we can go together and do whatever you want?"

This didn't cheer her up as much as I'd hoped, if anything she looked torn as she put a soft hand on mine. "But do you actually want to or are you only doing it because I asked you to?" Haruhi said with a hint of desperation. I stalled as I knew that there would probably be a load of homework to do by then, but Haruhi read my indecision as a negative and glared at me with tears edging her eyes. "I knew it, all I wanted, was for you and me to…" Haruhi sniffed as she wiped her eyes, "… do stuff together. But it's clear you'd rather be off having a good time with Mikuru or Yuki, well if they're more fun than me, then fine."

Before I could answer, Haruhi rose from her chair with a great screech of chair legs and made to leave. I called to her to wait as the entire café stared at us, but she only walked faster out into orange light of the setting sun. But I refused to let her go like that and I vaulted the table, sending crockery flying. Shouting an apology, I burst out the door and squinted in the glare for Haruhi. Whatever Asahina had given me had clearly worn off, as my head was screaming as I saw Haruhi walking quickly away, her yellow ribbon streaming in the quickening breeze.

Gasping for breath I caught up with her and put a hand to her shoulder. She turned at looked at me, the tears in her eyes not making me feel half as wretched as her smile, when I said. "Haruhi, I do want to go do stuff with you, just name it and we'll do it."

Haruhi shook her head and said, "I want to, but it's clear now it won't mean to you, what it does to me. Even now you're asking about what I want to do, when I was hoping that you'd want me to come somewhere with you." Her half smile faded as she looked up the street with a sigh and added, "I just want to go home now. I guess, I'll see you at school tomorrow."

I tried to think of something to stop her, but I doubted anything would. I don't know why she had to get so upset about me spending time with the friends, that she'd dragged into our lives. I doubt spending time with me would be fun, all I'd want to do is relax at home and Haruhi would bored witless by that. I was sure I must have spent time with Haruhi recently, I just couldn't pin point the exact date, but we had, hadn't we?

Damn it was hard thinking clearly these days, the air felt heavy and the clouds seemed to thickening as I trudged home, hoping to get there before the rain. I'd just have to make it up to Haruhi somehow, spend more time with her and try to be more positive about her plans. I'm sure once we got into the swing of one her schemes, she'd be back to normal in no time and I'd be dragged about town on every errant going.

I didn't beat the rain and by the time I squelched through the front door I was desperate for a hot bath. After that, dinner and all the usual activities of an evening, I headed to bed early. Even though I felt exhausted, sleep did not come easily and I drifted fitfully out of confusing dreams. The storm raging outside wasn't helping either, with the wind howling and thunder booming.

Shamisen yowled as I climbed out of bed and opened the curtains, watching great forks of lightning split the sky. In the after glare of the strikes, I thought I could see great figures silhouetted against the darkness and wondered if they were Haruhi's celestial giants. As I watched the storm I saw a red light dancing through the night, it seemed to be weaving erratically as it hurtled through the rain. As it rapidly became clear that it wasn't slowing down, I moved slowly away from the window, positive that it was on a collision course for my house. Then suddenly as I readied to dive for cover, the red glow blinked out.

Against the glow of the street lights I just made out a human figure in the dark, tumbling like a rag doll through the air. With a sickening crash it went through the front hedge, skimmed across the lawn, before vanishing amongst the flowers beneath my window. I rushed outside to find the prostrate esper lying at the end of long gouge through the lawn. He groaned as he propped himself up against the wall and smiled with a lopsided grimace.

"Ahh, I did get the right house," Koizumi chuckled as he coughed up some blood. "Please except my apologies for the damage to your front garden."

I looked at him, wincing at the cuts, bruises and the horrible angle of his left leg. I automatically reached for my phone, before remembering it was up in my bedroom and started to dither about what to do.

"I'm going to call an ambulance, don't move any..." I started before Koizumi stiffly raised a hand to silence me.

"It's too late for that," Koizumi said with a wince.

"Don't be stupid, I'm sure they can fix you up," I demanded.

"There's no point, the end has already come," resigned Koizumi looking at the tumultuous sky. "The Celestials have grown too strong and closed space is expanding too fast, it is clear Suzumiya has already begun to reshape the world. All we can do now is wait and see what kind of world she'll create for us." He looked up at me and grimaced as he asked. "What the hell did you do, you were supposed to win her heart, not break it?"

As the torrential rain soaked the both of us, I felt bad for correcting a dying man. But I insisted on pointing out that this was because we kept Haruhi out of everything, not half baked ideas of romance. Koizumi shook his head with a laughed, "I told them you wouldn't understand, but the other two were insistent."

I was about to object when a movement made me look towards the road. "Ahh speak of the devils," muttered Koizumi as I looked at Asahina and Nagato standing beneath an umbrella. Asahina gasped at Koizumi's broken state and ran over to shield him from the rain. After a moment's indecision she pulled out a strange gadget from her bag and jabbed it against his neck. He sighed with contentment and thanked her as his body relaxed a little.

Koizumi looked at Nagato and asked without much hope, "is there anything we can do?"

Nagato shook her head slightly, "No, the process is now irreversible, we can only wait."

There was silence between us as I could feel their disappointment in me, I wanted to protest my innocence but I knew there was no point. I looked at the sky and even I could see that things were very wrong, as the clouds were torn between the storm and clear stars in an unnatural patchwork all the way to the horizon.

I felt I had to suggest something to try and relieve my guilt, so I asked, "If there's no way of stopping this, is there any way to get a message to our next 'selves' and give them a head start?"

Asahina and Koizumi looked at Nagato, who was deep in thought, until she said, "I was investigating a method, but there was not time to test its viability."

Asahina said, "It must at least be worth trying. At this stage, I doubt it will hurt."

Koizumi shrugged, "it'll be better than nothing, maybe they'll have better luck."

I watch her nervously as Nagato nodded and gently took my hand in hers. She brought it to her mouth and there was a jab of pain as she bit into my palm, just below my pinkie finger. I fought the blush growing in my cheeks as she stayed like that for a little while, her small lips brushing my skin.

Eventually she let go and looked up at me, her eyes gazing intently into mine. "Since you undergo minimal change between iterations, you are the best suited to transport the data. Though success is not guaranteed if Suzumiya no longer desires the existence of the myself or the Data Integration Thought Entity."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," I said with empty reassurance as a loud boom of thunder rolled overhead. But the storm sounded wrong as the echo distorted through the tormented night. In the distance I could see a ripple in the air, travelling towards us at astonishing speed.

"Here it comes," said Koizumi, steeling himself against the unknown. He then took a deep breath and raised an empty hand in a toast. "Well it's been nice knowing you all and for what it's worth, I hope we're all friends on the other side."

I nodded in reply with a grim smile and looked at Asahina who did likewise. The last thing I saw was Nagato looking at me with the slightest of smiles and then, our world ended.

 _As the past formed around me, I marvelled at how green and lush everything was, on this warm July night. I lost myself in the beauty of the past until I forced myself to focus on my mission and anxiously rushed to find my target. Hiding in the trees that surround a dark school playing field, I watched a middle school girl ordering a boy of the same age around the field. They were both laughing as he pushed a strange old contraption that was painting white lines on the grass, weaving an intricate pattern of words and symbols._

 _I smiled as they laughed and joked with each other, becoming so enraptured by their joy that I almost tripped over and nearly gave myself away. With a classified curse, I performed one final reconnaissance and jumped forward to see the same pair happily enjoying summer break together. Then forward again to watch them approaching North High's gate on their first day of high school, their faces lit with a mixture of excitement and trepidation._

 **[Author's Note:** Well I hope you enjoyed this first part of my story of the SOS Brigade, all reviews are appreciated and I hope you want to see more. May the future bring more than pachinko machines. - Godric]


	2. Chapter 2

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

[Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, I hope you enjoy the story I'm writing to fill the void until we see anything new of Haruhi Suzumiya, in either Anime or Light Novel form. As always any reviews positive or critical are greatly appreciated and I look forward to reading them. - Godric]

* * *

I sat in my new classroom, half listening to the new teacher explain the obvious about life at North High. Behind me I could hear the rhythmic tapping of Haruhi's nails on her desk, trying to drum away her nervous excitement at our first day.

As we announced our names to the class Haruhi surprised me by just saying her name, followed by a friendly greeting. I'd been expecting her to proclaim some crazy philosophy or ask if anyone was an alien or something. But it seemed she had lost interest in all that now, a few years ago it was all she'd talk about and I'd been dragged all over town searching all kinds of mysterious entities. I wondered if she'd finally grown out of such things, but as she shouted, "his name's Kyon," over my own announcement, I realised that wasn't the case. So I settled for glaring at her, while she grinned mischievously back and the rest of the class burst into laughter.

Once everyone was introduced, I sat talking to a boy from my old school called Kunikida and a guy from Haruhi's school called Taniguchi. Unsurprisingly the main topic of discussion was how cute the girls were in our class, though they were noticeably avoiding mentioning Haruhi, while making furtive glances at her and me. I explained to them that Haruhi and I were just friends, but left out that I had been putting quite a lot of consideration into taking it further.

Up until recently, I hadn't even been sure that we'd be in the same school, let alone the same class. But here we were, like it was some crazy destiny and now it was just a case of figuring out if Haruhi even liked me that way. Girls could be funny about going out with guys they were friends with and I definitely didn't want to wreck our friendship. I'd done that with a girl back in middle school and regretted it ever since, though I doubt that girl even remembered me now. So I'd wanted to wait until I was sure and hell you never know, there might be an even cuter girl here instead.

Speaking of cute girls, the one with the highest rank according to Taniguchi, chose this moment to come over to greet Haruhi and myself. Completely ignoring the other two guys, she introduced herself with a charming smile. "Hello my name's Ryoko Asakura, you two are Suzumiya and 'Kyon,' is that right?"

I nodded with a sigh, I'd been hoping to rid myself of that nickname, but it looked like I was stuck with it, thanks to Haruhi. Asakura gave a charming smile of delight as she said, "Well I hope we all get along and if there's anything you want to know, just ask."

I couldn't think of anything, but Haruhi immediately launched into a torrent of questions about the school and specifically the clubs. Asakura seemed a little taken aback by Haruhi's enthusiasm, but carried on smiling anyway. I felt bad for making assumptions about a person I'd just met, but there was something off about this Asakura girl, that I couldn't quite put my finger on. There was an artificial quality to her and I couldn't shake the feeling that she was the kind of girl who'd stab in you in the back, if you gave her the chance.

I shook the disturbing thought away and tried to force a positive attitude towards my new classmates. After all the formalities of the first day were concluded, we went out to investigate the clubs. Haruhi dashed hither and dither, wanting to see everything this school offered, but unable to decide on anything. While I struggled to keep up, holding on to various flyers and over junk that Haruhi threw my way, in her pursuit of the best club.

* * *

We passed the animal suit clad Light Music Club as they passed out flyers and marvelled as the various martial arts clubs launched into ferocious bouts. The guys seemed to mainly basing their choice on which club had the cutest girls and it seemed to be the Calligraphy Club was top in that regard. A small crowd of guys was watching a particularly cute second year girl, who was intensely focused on her demonstration of brush work.

She became flustered as she saw me and Haruhi watching her, with an adorable squeak she lost her grip on the brush and sent ink all over her sizeable chest. The green haired girl next to her burst into laughter and cried, "Oh Mikuru, you're such a klutz," before slapping the poor girl on the back and sending more ink flying. This 'Mikuru' was now in a state of panic as she dabbed at the ink on her uniform, sending her bosom bouncing to the great delight of the surrounding boys.

Haruhi frowned at my wide eyes and yanked my tie, pulling me away from the glorious sight. A short distance away we sat on the grass beneath a small tree, taking a break from the festival like atmosphere as we sipped some drinks.

"So have you decided on a club?" I asked Haruhi, "there's quite a selection here."

Haruhi looked unimpressed as she said, "nothing has really grabbing me yet, I was hoping for something really strange and exciting." She ran her fingers through the cool grass and pondered the surrounding buildings, "to be honest I'd be happy just hanging out with you after school. Are there any clubs you like the look of?"

I considered for a moment, trying not to glance at the chaos of the Calligraphy Club table. There had been a club that I'd had a strange urge to try, but I'd not seen any sign of it, so I asked Haruhi, "I was thinking of the Literature Club, but…"

"There isn't one," said a cold voice from a silhouette that stood over me. The figure sat down and became Asakura, looking at me with with an expression that brooked no argument. I felt a chill run down my spine as her smile returned and I muttered a vague okay.

"The Literature Club sounds boring anyway," said Haruhi and Asakura chuckled in agreement.

"I'm sure as long as you two are together you'll have fun whatever you do," said Asakura sycophantically. Causing me to scoff as I laid back on the grass and relaxed to the sounds of the school around me. I was surprised how comfortable I felt here, it was like I'd been here for years rather than just a day. I felt Haruhi's fingers brushing my fringe as I closed my eyes and smiled at the caress of the sun on my skin.

* * *

"Late again Kyon," shouted Haruhi in irritation, though the glee was all over her face. I sighed as I plonked myself down opposite her, accepting that no matter how hard I tried, I was always late. I ordered teas and sweets for the two of us as my punishment for my tardiness. Which was ridiculous really, since I'd happily paid for her bill out of simple chivalrousness, but Haruhi insisted on this little ritual.

Thinking about it, I suppose these outings on our days off from school, were pretty much just rituals now. We'd go out around town looking for anything that could be vaguely described as strange or unusual, but never finding anything. Haruhi used to get really frustrated, but now she didn't seem to mind, if anything it was just an excuse to hang out. Not that our lack of success meant our days were uneventful, Haruhi had a knack for finding places giving away things for free or having some kind of special events. Granted these usually involved some chores for yours truly, but that gigawatt smile on Haruhi's face made today's batch of hard earned, 'free' ice cream worth it. It was now coming up to July and the cool treat felt particularly nice after carrying those boxes around, with a little help through motivational speeches from Haruhi.

My task completed, we walked down by the river, the sun filtering through the trees as cherry blossom drifted in wind around us. The trees should have shed their blossom a long time ago, but for some reason the variety that grew here stayed eternally in bloom. It confused the hell out the local scientists, but Haruhi loved it as she danced through the falling petals, giggling with a happy grin. I smiled, simply enjoying the sight of her swishing that ever so hot ponytail, then laughing as she became giddy and almost fell over.

I caught her just in time and I held in my arms for a moment, trying not to lose myself in the feeling of her body against mine. We both blushed and awkwardly coughed, deciding to sit on a nearby bench in unison. Haruhi smiling at me as she pulled two cans of soda out of her bag, another prize from a grateful shop owner.

I nodded a thanks and took a swig, trying to keep my mind off the tension in the air. I gazed at the bright sunshine, at the petals tumbling through and most importantly at the beautiful girl sitting next to me. It was clear that if there was a moment to ask her out, it would be now. It was almost like this moment had been made for it.

Looking down at my twiddling thumbs, trying to get my words in a coherent order. I had vague plan, but I could feel it unravelling the moment I tried to think seriously about it. I glanced at Haruhi, who was looking at me expectantly, which only made even more nervous.

"Haruhi," I started with a cough to clear my throat. "Haruhi, you know, it's Tanabata soon and I was thinking that..." I was stammering so hard I wasn't sure if I was making sense, but I ploughed on. "...That since it's been like three years since we met, we could go out somewhere fancy, just the two of us."

I looked into her glittering brown eyes and felt myself becoming lost. As my train of thought started to derail, I had to force myself to look down at my hands again, just so that I could finish with a stumbled, "You know, like, a date?"

* * *

I closed my eyes, like I was cowering from an explosion, not daring to see Haruhi's reaction. The only sound was the jackhammer pounding of my heart as I experimentally opened an eye and looked at her. She was sitting there with a pondering finger at her lips, clearly trying to hold in her amusement as Haruhi dragged out the silence.

I'd been holding my breath for so long my lungs were starting to hurt and I could feel cold sweat running all over me. I was about to ask again when Haruhi said casually, "okay Kyon."

Well I say casually, but her voice shook with excitement and her cheeks were flushed bright red. I let out a big sigh of relief as Haruhi added, "though it'd better be somewhere really fancy, you're not taking me that stupid café."

"Oh of course," I said quickly, thinking of the exclusive restaurant that loomed ominously over my wallet. We grinned at each other, then the tension broke and we burst out laughing at our own awkwardness. We chatted for a while, experimenting with how our new relationship status affected how we talked to one another. Though as it grew late I did the knightly thing and offered to walk her home.

As we stood I heard a squeak and rustle coming from the bushes behind us, along with a flash of auburn hair. But when I looked closer, the cause of the disturbance had vanished and I assumed it must have been some animal. A short way up, we saw Asakura relaxing beneath a tree under a straw hat and returned her wave with cheerful smiles. Though when an irritatingly handsome boy smiled at us as he walked past, I decided to slip a risky hand into Haruhi's own and was relieved when she gripped it tight.

So we walked together back to Haruhi's house, it was a long way, but the company made it feel short. On the path leading up to her door, I was mentally debating whether to kiss Haruhi goodbye, unsure because of her father watching from the doorway with a raised eyebrow. But Haruhi leapt forwards to give me a hug and a peck on the cheek, leaving me reeling, while she skipped up to the front door. She gave me a final happy wave, as her father giving me the long look of a judging parent. Before shaking his head and muttering, "finally," when he closed the door.

* * *

We tried to keep things normal at school, but it wasn't long until the gossip spread, though I wasn't sure why it was such a big deal to them. Taniguchi and Kunikida thought I was mad of course, but they still looked at me with envious eyes. While Asakura thought it was absolutely wonderful, saying we made for fascinating 'data,' whatever that meant. Haruhi and I generally hung out together anyway, but now it was pretty much during every free moment. Proceeding to do all the annoying 'couple in public' things, that had always sickened me in the past.

Today I was relaxing outside again, waiting for Haruhi to finish helping a teacher. I was puzzling over my exact plan for the date, studying every detail like I was planning a military invasion. I knew Haruhi was also taking this with a level of seriousness that I'd never seen before in her. At least judging from the intense discussions with Asakura I overheard, on subjects like getting their hair and nails done, along with what the best clothes to wear would be.

As I thought about what outfits would look good on Haruhi, I suddenly felt that strange itching feeling, the one that says someone is watching you. The school was pretty empty now that lessons had finished, but I could hear the distant sounds of the baseball team practising in the cages. I lazily scanned the school, searching for anyone looking back and eventually, up on the third floor of the old building, I saw them.

Behind a dusty window, I saw the afternoon sun reflecting off a large pair of glasses for the briefest of seconds, before quickly vanishing from view. I tilted my head, puzzling over what I'd just seen, but there was no time to investigate, as Haruhi appeared in her usual bluster of excitement.

Over the next few days, I kept finding myself drawn to the face in the window, wondering who they were and why they sat there seemingly every day. I never saw them leave and only occasionally move from the spot on the left side of the window, so it was a big surprise to one day see Asakura in there. Our class president was considerably more animated than the glasses wearer, who only shook her head as she stared impassively at the gesticulating Asakura.

For some reason seeing that nosey girl interrupting the peace of that lonely room, really irritated me and I hopped to my feet, heading for the stairs up. As I reached the top Asakura burst from the room and I dived for cover, holding my breath as she stormed past in a towering rage. Once she'd gone I slowly approached the room looking up at the sign which read, 'Literature Club' in faded writing. So there was a literature club, why had Asakura been hiding it and who was the mysterious occupant?

All these questions ran through my brain as I gently eased open the door.

* * *

The room inside was pretty empty, a large overladen book shelf, a long table and a battered locker, were all that comprised of the furnishings. There were no decorations and I'd considered the room abandoned, if it wasn't for the small girl silently reading a book by the window. The strangest part was how familiar the room was, even though I was sure I'd never been there before in my life. Despite its sparseness, the place felt as comfortable as my own bedroom, though I couldn't even begin to explain why.

I shook the thought away and gingerly walked in with an awkward, "excuse me." But the girl didn't respond, she just sat there with the only movement being the occasional turn of a page. The girl was so still, if it wasn't for that single movement I'd thought she was a mannequin. Even then the rhythmic turning of the pages had a mechanical quality, like she was some strange robot cooked up by the computer club next door.

I walked up to her and clumsily said, "Look, if Asakura has been bothering you, let me know and I'll get her to stop."

I smiled in a friendly way and at first there was no response. I was just about to repeat myself when the girl turned her head in a disturbingly artificial fashion. It reminded me of one of those old clockwork automatons that I'd once seen in a museum, when she looked blankly at me and said flatly, "please leave."

I blinked in surprise and laughed nervously as I said. "Sorry I just saw Asakura up here and wondered if you were okay, I know she can be a bit of an interfering busybody."

"Leave now," said the girl staring at me with unblinking eyes. There was no hint of anger in her voice, but the finality of her tone was absolute. She stood stiffly and started to walk steadily forwards, sending me stumbling against a chair as I was forced to the door.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," I stammered. "But if she ever bothers you again, let me or a teacher know." I reached out to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but her hand shot out to block it. Smacking into my palm with a force surprising for such a tiny figure. The impact caused me to instinctively closed my hand over hers and the girl stiffened.

The world seemed to hold its breath, when suddenly she let out an ear piercing scream.

* * *

 _Requesting data connection._

 _Request denied._

 _Sending Temporal Passcode_

 _Temporal Passcode invalid, request denied._

 _…_

 _…_

 _Begin aggressive override…_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 3**

The world seemed to hold its breath when suddenly she let out an ear-piercing scream.

The sound was horrendous, cutting through the silence like a sword and nearly sending my heart through my throat. But rather than the classic high-pitched cry so loved by shlock horror movies, this one distorted and contorted away from a human voice. A nightmarish electronic sound, more like an angry old-fashioned modem, than the cry of high school girl.

The girl's legs went out from under her and I desperately fumbled to catch her, trying to avoid making the situation worse by touching her anywhere delicate. I winced as I crashed to my knees cradling the girl in my arms, dreading the thought of anyone coming to investigate the scream.

My dread turned to panic as the girl started to convulse, writhing and kicking frantically in my cradling arms. I cursed my idiocy, seeing that this girl must have epilepsy or something and this was why she stayed up here on her own. I tried to recall any useful information from the cheesy hospital dramas my mom watched, but nothing came to mind. So I just tried to cushion her tiny flailing body and prayed that it would stop soon.

Thankfully she had at least stopped screaming, unfortunately, she instead started spouting random technical gibberish. Weird talk of 'quantum tunnelling' and 'temporal syncing,' that was really not helping me cope with the situation. Her struggles eventually became slower and with a final muttered, "data synchronisation established," she lay still.

She so still that, I started to panic over whether she was alive, as tried to decide what I should do next. But thankfully she began to stir as her eyes opened, looked at me with a gaze that portrayed far more life than when I first entered the room. Her large round glasses had been sent flying by the seizure and looking at her properly now, I was struck by just how beautiful her eyes were.

A surge of déjà vu coursed through me and I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew this girl, that I'd even held her like this before. But that wasn't true I'd never held a girl like this, well maybe my sister when she was very little, but that was different. My head was starting to thump from the intensity of the situation and I looked again at those brown eyes as they widened in surprise. Then mine did the same as she said quietly, "Kyon?"

I was about to ask her if she was okay and frankly how the hell she knew that nickname, when suddenly the door smashed open, ripping out the top hinge. "I received your distress call," announced Asakura standing in the doorway dramatically. Then she saw the girl in my arms and Asakura's whole expression changed as she slipped a hand into her sleeve.

Asakura advanced with astonishing speed, growling, "Kyon, get your hands off Nagato, this second..." When suddenly Asakura reeled back as if she'd violently slapped and stared at the girl in confusion.

"I have revoked your privileges," said the girl in my arms bluntly, with a tone that definitely showed a hint of anger this time. "You will follow my orders or I will relieve you of your duties."

My eyes went wide with terror as Asakura suddenly pulled a long knife out of her sleeve, but then her eyes went wide as the knife suddenly disintegrated in her hand. With a hiss of frustration, Asakura bowed her head in defeat and glared at us. Reluctantly saying "As you command, but only after you tell me who really are and what you were doing with Kyon?"

The sound of my name brought me back to reality and I realised I still held the girl in my arms. Trying to repair the situation I awkwardly helped her to her feet and stood there wondering what I should do next.

"Look Asakura," I stammered probably making everything sound even worse, "nothing untoward happened. Your friend, err Nagato, was it, had a fit and I was just about to take to the nurse's office…" I trailed off, but the two girls seemed to be ignoring me as this, Nagato said to Asakura, "I will explain once I've properly analysed the situation. Is there an Itsuki Koizumi and a Mikuru Asahina at this school, if so I request that you bring them here."

Asakura didn't look remotely happy about being ordered around but reluctantly agreed. The short girl looked about at the desolate room and asked, "I take it that Suzumiya has not formed a brigade based in this room?" The lack of comprehension on mine and Asakura's faces seemed to answer her question as she added, "interesting."

I started to edge towards the door and away from these weirdos, when the Nagato girl turned her large eyes on me, freezing me to the spot. "Kyon, it is imperative that you do not mention anything that happened here to Suzumiya."

My level of confusion was at its limit, but I still asked, "Why, she would love this kind of crazy stuff? "

The girl considered for a moment then said, "that is precisely why you must not tell her or something very bad may happen."

"What kind of bad...?" I started cautiously.

"Trust me, it will be bad," smiled Asakura menacingly. "Now get along Kyon, Suzumiya was looking for you when I passed her on the way here."

Before I could protest, Asakura marched me out the door. I glanced back at the mysterious girl as she looked like she was about to say something more, but seemed to change her mind with a downward glance. Then she vanished from sight, as Asakura slammed the door in my face, with her unsettling smile.

I stared at the door for a moment blinking in confusion, then with a shrug, I wandered off thinking it was just yet another strange day at North High. There were always odd things happening here or at least I thought they were odd, but maybe all high schools were like this.

I'd barely reached the bottom of the stairs when the rapid beat of shoes rushed towards me and I was engulfed in a tight hug. I was trying to keep my decorum under the pressure of her body against mine, as Haruhi cried, "there you are!"

"What's the meaning of this Kyon," demanded Haruhi breathlessly, "you'd better have a good excuse for keeping your girlfriend waiting." But she didn't actually wait for my excuse as she barrelled straight on with, "come on let's get out of here."

The days past far faster than I'd liked, but already tonight was the night of Tanabata. I was checking myself in the bathroom mirror at home for the thousandth time, fussing over my hair until I started doing more harm than good. Donning my best clothes and a sneaky dab of my father's cologne, I gave a deep sigh to calm my nerves, then headed downstairs.

My mother and sister were waiting for me and I groaned at their excited faces. My sister was giggling and dancing about singing, "Kyon's got a date," repeatedly, until I mussed her hair into submission. My mother was even more embarrassing as she beamed with maternal pride, wiping at her eyes and sniffing occasionally. She fussed at my hair and clothes, as I tried to shoo her off before she embarrassed me anymore, leading to me to cringe to death.

After I finally shrugged them off and made it out the door, waving my family goodbye as they watched me go. It was ridiculous really, I went out casually with Haruhi all the time, without any fuss. But now it was an official date, I just couldn't relax for a second, I checked the time again and fought the urge to run away and hide in my bed.

When I finally reached our rendezvous point, I was very surprised to see no sign of Haruhi. Her absence instantly made me nervous and immediately began to worry that she'd blown me out or I'd messed up somehow. I paced about, trying to keep calm as I tried to not think of bizarre reasons why Haruhi was late for the first time ever.

I looked up from my phone at the sound of clacking heels, seeing Haruhi tottered down the street at surprising speed. Her handbag bouncing in the crook of her arm as she ran in that weird way that girls in heels do, her wrists pointing skywards as tried to maintain her balance in ungainly shoes. I caught her as she tried to stop and nearly fell over, we embraced for a moment as Haruhi slowed her breathing. She looked up to me with a smile and I brushed a sprig of hair off her brow, as she tried to regain her composure.

"Sorry for being late, Kyon," said Haruhi apologetically, "I couldn't decide how best to do my hair."

I blushed a little and said awkwardly, "Well you do look fantastic." Because well she did, in a slightly frilly white summer dress that showed off her smooth arms and legs to perfection. Haruhi beamed with pride and flicked out her hair, striking a pose that made me wish that I could take a picture.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you pay for anything as punishment for being late," I said with a cheeky smile.

Haruhi stuck her tongue out and said with a sulk, "I should think so, I'll accept nothing less than you being a complete gentleman tonight."

"Very well my good lady," I said with mock sophistication as I stuck out my elbow. "Let's us stroll into town."

"Of course my good sir," retorted Haruhi as took my arm in hers and we dramatically strolled down the street in fits of giggles.

We headed into the main shopping district of town, which was decked out in celebration of Tanabata, with great coloured streamers hanging from every lamppost. I looked about in surprise to see that the town had really gone all out this year. Usually, Tanabata was relatively quiet affair around here, but I was amazed at the sight of performers and stalls surrounded by laughing crowds, under streams of gaudy lights.

I smiled smugly to myself, I couldn't have wished for a better place to take a girl on a date. I certainly had no idea that this had been happening, there had been no sign of it being set up yesterday and it was definitely a grand occasion. Haruhi was enraptured, running here and there with that brilliant smile on her lips. She accepted a sweet from the smiling lad in costume, then danced back to me, pressing herself against my chest with happiness.

"This is amazing Kyon," Haruhi said excitedly. "I've always dreamed of it being like this, thank you."

I blushed with pride even though none of this had been my doing, but I was certainly happy to take any of the credit. We looked around at the stalls, with Haruhi winning almost every game she tried as usual. The only thing that broke her streak was when she shared the stall with small children, who always seemed to snag the big prize instead. But Haruhi didn't seem to mind as she smiled at the excited little ones, watching them shout their joy to their bemused parents.

"Hey look there's Ryoko," Haruhi yelled suddenly and yanked me towards our class president, with an attention-grabbing wave. Asakura grinned and waved back, but a greater surprise was that Nagato girl standing beside her. Nagato was staring at the festivities with the grim expression of a war veteran, a look that became troubled as she watched Haruhi and me approaching.

Haruhi chatted amiably about this and that as Asakura asked excitedly about how things were going with the date. I felt slightly awkward outside of the conversation as I stood in silence looking at them. I opened my mouth to talk to Nagato, but she shook her head slightly, her face stern and silent. Nagato turned this cold look on Asakura, who blinked vacantly before cutting off her conversation with, "any way we don't want to get in the way of you two love birds, have fun." Asakura smiled and waved again as she quickly walked away with Nagato, who walked up and pursued a mask stall, before disappearing into the crowd.

"Do you know her?" asked Haruhi suddenly, making me jump a little.

"What, of course, I know Asakura," I said quickly.

"No," said Haruhi with a sigh of exasperation, "the other girl."

"No, not really, just seen her around the school," I said with a slight stammer. Even ignoring their request to not discuss those events with Haruhi, there was no way I'd tell her I'd held another girl in my arms a few days ago, especially not while on a date. Haruhi looked at me suspiciously, so I quickly looked at my watch and told her it was nearly time for dinner and led her down the crowded street.

The restaurant was true to my word one of the fancier places in town or at least as fancy as a high school student could manage. I always felt uncomfortable in such places, but Haruhi seemed pleased as she looked at the sophisticated, yet minimalistic decor. We were met at the door by a distinguished looking gentleman with a moustache who said, "Good evening my lady, good sir. My name Arakawa and I'll be your waiter for this evening."

To my surprise, he led us up to the ViP section upstairs and out onto the balcony. The waiter apologised explaining, "I'm dreadfully sorry, your original table was double booked, but luckily we had a cancellation up here. So please accept our apologies and I hope you enjoy dining with us."

He had no need to apologise, the view down the hill from here was incredible and Haruhi beamed with happiness at the sight. We sat and ordered drinks, before perusing the rather exotic menu that pushed my culinary knowledge to the limit.

"Wow you've really outdone yourself Kyon," grinned Haruhi. "I really was half expecting to end up at the usual café."

I gasped with mock astonishment and said, "I do have some class you know."

She reached over and gripped my hand as she thanked me again, making me blush under the intensity of her smile. Inside I was breathing a huge sigh of relief, as our original table at the back by the kitchen, would probably not have been up to Haruhi's standards. I'd have to pray and give thanks to the god that had smiled on me tonight.

The other dinners were giving us dubious and curious looks, as Haruhi chatted loudly with excitement. Though a familiar looking woman with long auburn hair, smiled at us and swished a wine glass in a salute. She was a little too curvaceous for me to look at for long without raising Haruhi's ire, so I looked the opposite way, out over the city.

The sights and sounds of the festivities were still echoing up from the streets below, but away from there, the evening was quite still. I looked across the skyline, spying two figures standing on the roof of an apartment building a block or two away. For a moment as the sun glinted off a pair of glasses, I felt sure that they were watching me, but it must have impossible to see us properly at that range.

"Is everything okay?" Came a concerned voice, breaking me out of that chain of thought. I blinked and turned to look at Haruhi, who was peering at me curiously.

"Sorry, I was just admiring the view," I said awkwardly, shaking away the nagging feeling of being studied.

Haruhi was unconvinced as the concern didn't leave her face and she took my hands in hers. "I don't know, you've just seemed really distracted recently like something's on your mind. You can tell me anything, you know that" she said tenderly. Before blushing and quickly adding with a dramatically pointed finger, "I won't have you keeping secrets from me, Kyon."

I forced a smile back and said, "I'm fine, I've just been worrying about tonight."

Haruhi blushed so cutely that it wrenched my heart, as I began to feel wretched for lying to her yet again. The truth was I'd been unable to get my mind off the strange events in literature club room and seeing that Nagato girl at the festival had brought it all flooding back. I so wanted to talk to Haruhi about it, all that weirdness was right up her alley and she'd love to finally find the mystery she'd been craving all these years.

I'd tried talking to Asakura about it, but the girl had been irritatingly evasive, only confirming that Nagato was 'okay.' As I looked at Haruhi, she made a silly face while she drank through a straw and I resolved to talk to this Nagato. I'm sure whatever the issue she had with Haruhi, it could be smoothed over and you never know they could even be friends. Granted Haruhi might be a bit much for a such a quiet girl, but maybe it'd be good for Nagato to meet new people outside of the intimidating Asakura.

With my mind set on this plan, I relaxed a little, basking a little in my own brilliance. Haruhi raised an eyebrow at my smug grin and said, "I know that look, you're up to something."

I raised an eyebrow back enigmatically, but before I could add anything our food arrived. Our meal was a little quiet, one of the downsides to spending so much time together, was that there was very little we hadn't already discussed. So Haruhi resorted to stealing my food and answering my objections with a mischievous grin. Looking for a subject I asked with a mouthful of rice, "What are your plans for the summer break?"

Haruhi's eyes lit up like a pachinko machine and she rummaged around in her handbag, till she pulled out a crumpled bit of paper. I perused the extensive list of activities, which ranged from things like baseball to fishing and a Bon Festival. My lack of enthusiasm must have shown on my face as Haruhi said disappointedly, "what's wrong, don't you like them?"

"I don't know," I said with a puzzled face. "It's just we've done all these kind of things before, I thought it would be nice to something new."

Haruhi looked confused and turned the list back to herself, furrowing her brow. "We've been swimming before sure, but I don't remember ever going cicada catching with you?"

I frowned and replied with, "Sure we did, you caught the most, of course, Nagato caught a beetle and then Asahina freaked out, when…" My speech stammered to a halt as a surge of pain exploded in my head, making me gasp as my eyes watered. Scattered images flickered past as a million questions crashed through my brain, like for starters, who was Asahina?

My vision began to swim and I started to feel sick, as I heard Haruhi shouting my name. I focussed on her voice and pulled myself back into reality as I looked into her panic filled eyes. I mumbled that I needed to go to the bathroom and staggered off with the whole restaurant watching me.

I looked up from the sink and into the bathroom mirror, splashing water over my face, as I tried to get a grip with a slap to both cheeks. I heard the door burst open and Haruhi came in, heedless of it being the men's room. I whimpered as I watched her reflection and mine, seeming to be having an argument completely separate from the real world. I shook my head, making my brain rattle in my skull and the reflections returned to normal. My pale face and red-rimmed eyes staring back at me, while Haruhi looked at me fearfully.

"Kyon, are you okay?" stammered Haruhi.

"I don't know, I just came over really weird for a moment," I wheezed and tried to smile at her, but it was so warped that I think I made her only worry more.

The door creaked and a woman's voice called in to see if I was okay, as she peered around the door. The curvaceous auburn haired woman walked in and up to me, constantly looking nervously at Haruhi. The woman stood between me and Haruhi, then passed a hand over my face revealing a strange machine in her palm for a moment. She glanced at Haruhi, before pulling out a silver tube from of her bag and tapping out an oddly coloured pill into her hand.

"Take this, it'll make you feel better," the woman said in sweet kindly voice. I was a little unsure of taking something from a stranger, even if I was still sure I knew her from somewhere. Her face was little too close as she smiled tenderly, forcing me to look away. Which was straight down into her cleavage, her blouse open enough for me to see a star shaped mole on one of her breasts.

This normally pleasant sight sent another wave nausea through me and throwing caution to the wind, I swallowed the pill. I grimaced as I forced it down and slumped to the floor, sweat pouring from every pore. The sight of Haruhi and the woman crouching beside me, swam out of focus, as I tried to maintain a grip on consciousness.

Then whatever was in that drug kicked in like an emergency stop and with a lurch, everything came back into focus. I blinked, looking about in confusion at the pair looking down at me. The woman smiled with relief but was elbowed aside by Haruhi as she fretfully dabbed at my brow with a handkerchief, muttering to herself like an old grandmother.

"You should take Kyon home, he needs to rest," the woman instructed Haruhi. Who nodded anxiously in agreement as she put an arm around me and hauled me upright, then helped me to the door.

"Is everything alright sir?" Asked the waiter, his bushy eyebrows furrowed with concern. I smiled wanly and Haruhi explained that I wasn't feeling well we were leaving. I fumbled with my wallet, but the waiter waved it away with a smile saying, "after this little mishap, it's on the house."

We thanked him profusely, then I turned to thank the auburn haired woman, only to find she'd vanished. But before I could investigate Haruhi led me out to the street and we started making our way home. As the cool evening air filled my lungs I started to feel better, I looked up at the star-filled sky and sighed.

Haruhi was constantly checking my face to see if I was okay and I felt wretched for screwing up our date night. I looked about for some way of fixing things, feeling that leaving things as they were would stain our relationship. I saw the dark outline of the school in the distance and I had an idea, steeling my remaining strength I took Haruhi's hand and pushed forward.

"Where are we going?" Cried Haruhi in alarm as she stumbled behind me.

"I want to take you somewhere," I said through gritted teeth, as forced my legs to keep me going.

"I'd rather take you home, you still don't look right," replied Haruhi with concern. "What kind of girlfriend would I be to let you mess about after all that and what kind of boyfriend are you to disobey my orders."

I looked at her forced pout as she tried to raise my spirits, but I waved her concerns away as I said, "I'll be fine, don't worry this won't take long."

But her concerns didn't leave as we came to the school fence and I followed it to the gate. I grunted as I helped Haruhi over, trying not look at how high her dress went, before clumsily scrambling over myself.

"I'm not sure about this," said Haruhi nervously as she glanced towards the darkened school buildings.

"You've never worried about it before," I said with a smile, "Why now?

"I wouldn't want you being expelled because of me," said Haruhi quietly.

"You've never worried about that before either," I laughed breathlessly.

She scowled and turned to face me, her eyes glistened with angry tears as she snapped, "I'm being serious Kyon. You really scared me back there, I thought you'd been poisoned or were having a heart attack or something."

I put a hand on her shoulder and said reassuringly, "Haruhi, I'm feeling much better now, you can relax."

I sat down in the grass of the playing field, trying to make it look like I'd chosen to, rather than my legs giving out. I looked up at Haruhi, her dress flapping slightly in the breeze as she pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. She didn't look happy about it but decided to sit down next to me, leaning against me with a sigh. Haruhi felt cold as I put my arm around her, so I put my jacket over her shoulders and she pulled it tight with a smile.

"I'm sorry for ruining our first date," I said with a sigh.

"It's not ruined," said Haruhi with a smile, "just us together is all I want."

"I'm glad to hear that," I said with a relieved laugh. "I thought you might run a mile after everything that happened earlier."

"Don't be ridiculous, Kyon" she exclaimed, "it'll take a lot more than you being weird to get rid of me." She grinned mischievously, then began poking me in the chest as she continued, "but don't think you're getting away scot free. I'm ordering you to see a doctor tomorrow and take some time off school to recuperate."

"Ordering me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "What are you, my boss?"

"Boss?" Haruhi said in mock indignation, " I'm your girlfriend now, aren't I?

"Well yeah," I said with a shrug.

"Good and that means you have to do whatever I tell you." Haruhi snapped back as she stuck her tongue out.

"Yes Boss," I replied in a terrible attempt at American English as I clumsily saluted.

"Kyon!" Haruhi cried as she hit me with a volley of kitten punches to my arm and shoulder. Pouting hard as she said grumpily, "sometimes it feels like you're not taking me very seriously."

"I am, I am," I said a little too casually for Haruhi's liking.

"Really?" she said with a worried sigh.

I cleared my throat and shook my head to clear any hint joviality. Before saying with hand on heart, "Haruhi, there's nothing I've been more serious about in my entire life."

Haruhi blushed and looked down as she said quietly, "I hope so because I am."

As I looked at her, a slight breeze ruffled the trees and she looked up at me. The starlight glittered in her eyes and I knew what I wanted to do, the only question was whether I had the courage to do it. My mind ran in circles, pointlessly worrying about so many things, it was bringing my headache back. Haruhi seemed closer now like gravity was pulling us together. I could see Haruhi's breath quicken as the flush grew in her cheeks and across the top of her chest. My own pulse started to race as she looked at me with those expectant eyes and I knew there was no going back.

Mustering every last bit of willpower, I brushed her hair with my hand. Cradling her face as I felt the warm caress of her cheek on my palm. Her lips pouted slightly in readiness, the moonlight glistening slightly before I closed my eyes. Then I leaned in, feeling her heated breath on my face and kissed her.

There were no fireworks or worlds colliding, just the sensation of her soft lips against mine. The smell of her skin filled my senses as we stayed together for what felt like centuries, but was probably only a few seconds. Eventually, we parted, looking at each other with bright red faces, the awkwardness overtaking us we both burst into fits of giggles. Collapsing back onto the grass, we lay there gazing up at the stars, still laughing as much at each other's laughter as our own embarrassment.

My eyes traced the course of the Milky Way as it flowed through the heavens. Looking for Vega and Altair as they shone so close together, yet really untold light-years apart.

"Do you think our message ever got to anyone?" Said Haruhi wistfully as she looked at the stars through outstretched fingers.

"Who knows," I said with a sigh. "Though those stars are a long way off, it could take years for our message to reach anyone."

"True," said Haruhi with a hint of disappointment. "Though sometimes I wonder if they're already here, hiding from us while they observe humanity."

"Why not?" I said with a laugh. "Tell you what, if I see an alien wandering around school then I'll let you know." Haruhi laughed, but I had a strange image of that Nagato girl, shaking her head with a serious expression on her face. The intrusiveness of the thought surprised me and Haruhi must have seen my startled expression, making her ask, "what's wrong?"

"Sorry," I said with an awkward chuckle. "I was just thinking who would most likely be an alien at our school."

Haruhi smiled as she pondered, "What about the Computer Club, they're all a bit weird?"

I laughed and suggested, "What about Asakura, she's crazy and weird."

Haruhi pouted, "Don't be mean to Ryoko, she's really sweet when you get to know her."

I wasn't so sure, that girl could be scary if you got on her bad side, but I shrugged it away. So we lay there on the grass chatting about who could be an alien at school, which progressed on to all manner of mysterious beings and who they might be.

We must have been like that for hours, as the spell was only broken when my phone buzzed with a message from my mother. It was only asking if we were okay, but it made me realise it had gone midnight and I wasn't surprised that she'd been starting to worry. With a reluctant sigh, I stood up and helped Haruhi to her feet, brushing away the odd blade of grass. I had planned to walk Haruhi home, but she insisted on walking me back to mine, which I admit galled my inner gentleman a bit.

We eventually made it to my house where my relieved mother opened the door, only to be surprised by the sight of Haruhi. Still, my mom showed us both inside, where Haruhi excused her way into the front room, looking awkward despite this being far from her first time here.

My father looked away from the television to give me an amused smile, whilst raising his eyebrow curiously. My mother then launched into a barrage of questions, mainly centred around why I had not taken Haruhi home. But Haruhi hurriedly explained what had happened at the restaurant and that she had insisted on making sure I got back okay.

I was relieved that Haruhi played down the weirder aspects of what happened to keep my mother from completely freaking out, making it seem like I'd just had a bad migraine. Though I noticed Haruhi didn't mention the woman that had helped me, instead playing up her own part in what was probably an attempt to impress my mother.

Mom sighed and said, "It's too late for you to go home now Haruhi, dear. So why don't you stay here tonight, just make sure your parents know where you are."

Haruhi thanked her profusely and quickly made the call. My mom then turned to me to say, "Now go upstairs and roll a futon out for her." Before adding with a frown as caught my blushed glance at Haruhi. "In your sister's room!"

I pretended like that had been my plan all along and headed upstairs as instructed. My sister was unimpressed at being woken, but perked up once she realised Haruhi was staying over. Once the sleeping arrangements had been sorted, I met Haruhi on the landing as she came upstairs. She moved up to me, standing so close it made my heart pound as she looked down at my chest.

"Despite what happened, tonight was absolutely amazing," Haruhi said quietly. I heard a giggle to my side and glared my peeking sister into silence, then looked back to find Haruhi looking up at me. "Thank you, Kyon," Haruhi said softly and then she kissed me. I tried to control my surprise as I lost myself in the moment or at least tried to as my sister's muffled giggles, broke the mood a little.

I tried to think of a nice one liner to say, but only managed a stuttered, "glad you enjoyed it," before my mom yelled at us to go to bed. We wished each other goodnight and with our hands reluctant to part, we went into separate rooms.

I lay on my bed, cringing at my own giddiness as I listened to Haruhi and my sister chatting together. My nosey sister was trying to find out all the gossip, while Haruhi seemed to be enjoying being as vague and cryptic as possible. I drifted off to the sound of their voices and hoped I could get my act together for the next time.

 _[Despite errors, the data shows mission was still a success._

 _Though his condition must be closely monitored for more anomalies, they cannot be allowed jeopardise our chances for success._

 _Why does it hurt me to see them together?]_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 4**

Despite feeling pretty fine by the morning, Haruhi and my parents insisted on having me see a doctor. They saw nothing wrong with me, but recommended some bed rest anyway and I certainly wasn't going to complain about that. I enjoyed a pleasant few days relaxing at home in front of the TV, with Haruhi visiting after school with treats. I thought that I could definitely get used to this, but sadly it had to end eventually and I returned to school about a week later.

My absence had been noted, though the consensus seemed to be that I had swooned in Haruhi's arms and hadn't recovered until she'd awoken me with a kiss. I wasn't sure who'd started this rumour, but Haruhi certainly hadn't tried to deny it and I had to weather their sniggers till they became bored.

As for my mental state, well unpredictable was probably the best way to describe it. I could go for days with so much as a headache, but then I'd have another day where I'd completely freak out. I tried my best to hide it, particularly from Haruhi, but even the other students where beginning to give me wary looks after a bad episode in class. Word must have spread within the school because not long later we were approached by a second year girl, whilst Haruhi and I headed for the gate.

"Excuse me," came a nervous voice, causing Haruhi and I turned to look at the girl who was wringing her hands. She glanced shyly at me, before clumsily addressing Haruhi, "Miss Suzumiya, would you please come and help me, with some things?"

Haruhi looked surprised, but it was impossible to say no to such an adorably fretful face. "Yeah, okay," said Haruhi awkwardly, "we'll help you, won't we Kyon?"

I reluctantly nodded as I was tired after a long day, but the girl carried on fussing as she started with. "Actually," then deliberated over something before adding. "Kyon, could you go up to the club rooms." She then started to stress again before rapidly squeezing her eyes shut and saying, "I've been told a colleague needs a hand with something!"

I blinked in surprise and looked at Haruhi, confused as to why this cute second year was getting so stressed over something so simple. I replied with a cautious, "yeah sure" and the girl seemed massively relieved. Haruhi looked very puzzled, but was distracted as the girl led her off around the school. I said goodbye to them and headed upstairs, I had a gut feeling I knew who this involved, but quite what they wanted was beyond me. I was deep in thought pondering my fate, until I realised my feet had automatically taken me to the Literature Club room door without me realising.

I could hear voices inside, the unsettlingly cheerful voice of Asakura talking to the almost inaudible Nagato. While a young male voice was chatting to a much older woman, both sounded irritatingly familiar like a song that you couldn't name, but couldn't get out of your head. I was about to knock, when the door suddenly opened and a smiling boy in my year motioned me inside. I couldn't help but scowl at him, I'd seen him far too many times when I was with Haruhi and I was starting to suspect was actually stalking her.

He turned and said, "It would seem like you found him if that is the correct turn of phrase?"

I did a double take as I recognised the woman who had helped me in the restaurant sitting idly on the table with her stockinged legs crossed. She giggled at the boy and said "I told you I would or at least did. I should hopefully be being led on a wild goose chase with Miss Suzumiya right now, if not I'm in a lot of trouble."

I shook my head as the conversation was making me feel a little giddy and the room suddenly felt very claustrophobic. I staggered a little and those in the room immediately stopped, their expressions becoming concerned simultaneously, as they moved towards me. The boy helped me to a chair, then sat opposite as he smiled warmly at me, before pulling out a pack of cards and beginning to deal.

I stared at him incredulously as cards fell to the table, trying to comprehend his actions. Then suddenly an equally confused, almost scared look crossed his handsome features, as he too tried to understand his bizarre behaviour.

"Oh my, it would seem I to have fallen victim to this curious phenomena," said the boy with a nervous laugh. He then studied the cards fearfully, before dropping them to the table like they were cursed.

The others looked at him with apprehension as Nagato added, "These anomalies will only increase as time goes on. it is important that we take some kind of action before the damage becomes irreversible."

"But what action would be the most effective?" Asked Asakura. "I have some ideas, but you always refuse them. Myself and others within the Entity believe a more direct approach would solve this."

Nagato frowned at the menacing smile Asakura was giving me and replied. "I have explained repeatedly that violence has never worked in solving this crisis, all it would do is bring about another reset." Nagato looked closely at me and added in a slightly softer voice, "I do not believe he will withstand much more exposure to this anomaly."

That concerned look returned to their faces and frankly I was beginning to tire of it. The woman looked closely at me and it was still very uncomfortable to be that close to such a busty chest. "How are feeling now, Kyon?" she asked tenderly.

I squinted at her, trying to focus my mind on a reply. Just being in this room was making my migraine worse and kept hearing an echo of Haruhi's voice, announcing completely random things. I tried to shut the voice out and croaked, "like crap." The woman smiled with concern whilst reaching for more of those strange pills, but I brushed her hand away. I glared at her and said, "I don't need those. What I need to know is what the hell is going on and who the heck are you people?"

They all looked at Nagato and then the boy asked, "how much do you think it would be wise to tell him?"

The small girl sat deep in thought for a moment then said in her flat voice, "I am unsure how much he will comprehend right now. But it may help stabilise him with his previous iterations if his mind has a similar range of memories, also his understanding may aid us in solving this problem permanently."

"I'm right here you know," I snapped irritably. "What stuff might I not comprehend?"

They seemed to ignore my question as the woman peered closely at my eyes and asked carefully. "At the restaurant the other night, can you remember what you doing or thinking before you fell ill?"

I looked at her incredulously and she pleaded, "please Kyon, it's important. We will try and answer your questions, but first I need a baseline for your classified, I mean your condition."

I sighed as I explained that Haruhi had been showing me a list of things she wanted to do over the summer, that I had become confused over what we had and hadn't done before. With my head nearly exploding as I recalled a girl called Asahina shrieking as a butterfly landed on her face, a girl I was sure I'd never met before. Though thinking about it now, she did resemble the girl that had gone off with Haruhi and the woman in front of me, but even this thought sent a lance of pain through my skull.

Their reactions were varied, but none of them were disbelieving as they listened to my story. Nagato's pale skin somehow seemed to go even whiter, her eyes widening as if seeing some endless horror. Asakura's face became very unsettling as it contorted from her usual mocking smile to a surprisingly warm and motherly look of concern, then back again. Meanwhile the boy rapidly shook his head, blinking rapidly as his casual smile vanished. Sweat beading on his brow, he closed his eyes and began to breath steadily in an almost meditative fashion to calm himself.

But the oddest reaction was the woman's, who suddenly jerked her head backwards and shrieked. Batting at the space in front of her face in a panic, before stopping and looking about in confusion. She quickly downed one of her strange pills and said with an unsteady voice, "that was, unsettling. I can see why Kyon is getting so messed up by these, classified."

"Indeed," said the boy with a grim smile. "Also his proximity to Suzumiya may mean that these phenomena are far more intense and unpredictable."

This was met by shaken nods of agreement, but I just gave them a sour look as my patience started to fail. The feeling of being a lab rat in a cage, surrounded by mad scientists poking and prodding me, becoming rather prevalent. The woman tried to relax and flicked her long auburn hair out dramatically, before trying to mute my sourness with an attempt at a comforting smile.

"Okay thank you for telling us that Kyon, that was informative. If a little unnerving," said the woman before adding, "I guess we owe you an explanation."

What followed was a long winded and frankly ridiculous story that stretched my patience to the limit. The woman was apparently a time traveller named Mikuru Asahina, who was also apparently, the girl currently running around with Haruhi, but a different point in time. The boy it seemed was Itsuki Koizumi, an esper who along with a secretive organisation helped control monsters born from Haruhi's sleeping mind.

On top of that, there was Ryoko Asakura and Yuki Nagato, who were alien data entities or some such, that had been sent down to observe Haruhi. Who was apparently able to bend the world to her will or was a god or something else that they couldn't quite agree on. Then finally that Haruhi had trapped us all in an unending loop in time through the glory days of our school years.

The biggest surprise for me was actually how unfazed I was by all this madness. If anything it really felt like I'd heard it all before, which probably gave more credence to their tale, than any of the long scientific words they threw around. But honestly, by this point I didn't care, by the time they were done I felt exhausted, even though all I'd been doing was sitting there listening.

They looked at me expecting some sort of response and the moment all I could manage was a long sigh. This only made them look nervously at each other, that started to edge into concern as they probably started to worry that my brain had popped. So I slowly said, "This is all riveting, but why are you telling me and what do you want me to do about it?"

There was a sigh from Koizumi, but Asahina took a more serious tone as she said, "The effects of these temporal anomalies seem to be getting increasing severe, though I'm not sure why. Our, unusual natures may make us a little more resistant to its affects, but as a normal person. That is someone without any training or special abilities, you have no defence against the worst that time space can throw at you. I'm talking with my people to see what we can do to help you, but the kind of classified information you'd then have access to would be, problematic."

"I will try to teach him some of the more basic mental techniques that my organisation uses to focus their power," Koizumi added with a hint of cynicism. "Though I don't believe if he has the mind to really master them."

"Gee thanks," I snapped back sarcastically. "Somehow I get the feeling, that I shouldn't be asking for help from this room if I'm trying to avoid going crazy."

"It is important that you are able to maintain a healthy state of mind," said Nagato. "We are all concerned about your wellbeing, but none more so that Miss Suzumiya. Your continued deterioration may traumatise her enough to reset the world again and all our effort would be in vain. The data shows these continued resets have exacerbated your condition through each iteration, likely leading to a point where you are unable to mentally function normally and a successful outcome ultimately becoming impossible."

"Successful outcome?" I asked in confusion as I tried to wrap my mind around what Nagato was saying.

"Simply the continued happiness of Miss Suzumiya," Said Nagato. Though I thought I heard a slight sigh as she added, "Your relationship with her is vital to that outcome."

"So keep Haruhi happy, don't go crazy," I said with a shrug, "sounds simple enough."

"Please take this seriously, Kyon. I've seen the long-term effects of temporal anomalies on the human mind, they were classified." Asahina sighed and corrected herself, "let's just say they were unpleasant."

"If you become unwell again, you must get in contact with us," said Nagato sternly. "It would also be advisable for us to analyse your physical and mental state regularly. Only be sure Suzumiya doesn't learn about us, this place or the true extent of your condition."

"You know it would be much easier if I could just tell her," I said with a sigh. "Believe me she'd love all this insanity and to be honest I don't like lying to her about something so big."

The effect of Suzumiya learning this truth," said Nagato with a pause, "would be undesirable. Anytime she has, it either caused or exacerbated a reset situation, though it is unknown why this is the case."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it on that one," I said with exasperated sarcasm.

"Maybe one day we'll find a way to tell Suzumiya the true nature of things," said Koizumi with a shrug. "Presuming, of course, she doesn't already know it, but for reasons beyond our comprehension chooses to ignore it. I admit it might be interesting to investigate what she does and does not understand about her world, but for the time being secrecy is the most prudent course of action.

"I appreciate that this is a lot to take in…" Asahina started, but suddenly blinked in confusion and starting to blush. She suddenly hissed "Oh classified," then jumped up and dashed behind the door, just as it opened. Standing in the doorway was a younger girl with the same long auburn hair, wheezing as she tried to catch her breath.

"Suzumiya is heading, this way," the younger Asahina managed between breaths. But my attention was drawn to the woman making frantic hand gestures, from behind the slowly swinging door. The younger Asahina started to turn to see what I was looking at, but her older self suddenly vanished in the blink of an eye and the door calmly swung over the place where the woman had been.

Bringing us back to the moment, Nagato said, "It would be unfortunate if Suzumiya was to find you here. You should go to her, we can continue with this at a later date, by then we may have more data on a better course of action."

"Try to look on the positive side of all this," Koizumi said with the return of that charming smile. "Suzumiya is a wonderful girl, that most guys would kill to be with. You should enjoy these halcyon days of youth with her, I would say they won't last forever, but it seems for us they do."

I rolled my eyes as he chuckled at himself, but was cut off as Asakura grabbed my collar and dragged me to the door. "Come along Kyon," she said with a matronly tone, "I'll explain your absence. Just remember that if you tattle about what went on here, I'll make sure things are very unpleasant for you." I gave an unimpressed look at her menacing smile and fought my way free of her iron grasp. Straightening myself to look more dignified, we headed down the corridor just as Haruhi rounded the corner.

She stormed up and demanded rapidly, "Where have you been Kyon, I've been looking all over you and that weird girl. We've been running all over school looking for this at that, talking to teachers, fighting imaginary butterflies. I swear if Mikuru wasn't so damn cute, I'd lost it with her by now, that's her name by the way."

Haruhi paused for one breath before barrelling straight on into, "I was rooting through the costumes in the drama club for something cute to put her in. But then realised I'd needed a photographer and said I was going to go look for you. But just as pulled out these really adorable bunny girl outfits for me and her, she took one look and rushed out the room in a panic." Haruhi looked up and down the corridor, then peered out the window, before adding, "you haven't seen her have you?"

I glanced at Asakura who shook her head, then smiled sweetly as she said, "sorry we've not seen her."

They both looked at me, but my mind had been lost in what must have been a memory of the girls in bunny outfits. Just as I thought that maybe not all of this was bad, I snapped myself out of it and awkwardly added, "nope, not seen her."

Asakura chuckled, "I'm sorry for borrowing your man, Haruhi. Sometimes you just need someone strong and obedient to do some heavily lifting. Anyway, he's all yours now, why don't you have him treat you to coffee as punishment for being so tardy."

Haruhi seemed a little taken aback by Asakura's forceful tone and I wasn't overly keen on the commanding glare my class president was giving me either. But taking the hint I took Haruhi by the arm and led down the stairs, making promises of her favourite cake from the café. I glanced back and Asakura gave me a broad smile, while Asahina peered nervously around the club room door.

Haruhi seemed a little unsettled as we walked together, I think she knew something was up even if she didn't know what. She slowly got back on to the subject of Asahina and I wondered if Haruhi felt the same déjà vu that the rest of us did. But there was nothing in her tone that suggested Haruhi felt like she had known Asahina before and for some reason this realisation made me feel rather melancholy.

From then on my life to a sharper turn for the strange, where I would regularly meet with my new odd friends, if you could truly call them new. They would run tests, teach me random nonsense, all in the hope it would stop my brain from exploding. Though it became clear it wasn't just mind at risk, with Asahina and Koizumi regularly reacting to things that hadn't happened. While Nagato would just sit, watching things that weren't there or reading a book that didn't exist, all with this empty stare that sent a chill down my spine.

But the hardest part of all this for me was the time it took from being with Haruhi and the constant lies I had to keep telling her. I'd told her I'd started the literature club again as an excuse, but made sure that it sounded really boring and totally not something she'd be into. She'd accepted this without any argument or joking comment, which made me feel even more wretched as I looked at her sad smile.

I tried not to let my weirdness affect Haruhi, mainly because I couldn't bear to see her worry and the look of anguish she gave when I started babbling nonsense was horrible to look at. This was just such a time, where I was sitting with Haruhi on a bench eating lunch, lost in my thoughts as she talked.

I was brought out of my contemplation of some ants on the ground by the sound of my name as Haruhi said, "Kyon are you okay?"

I was just about to give a vague response when Haruhi suddenly demanded angrily, "Kyon are you even listening?"

The volume of her shout, cut through my brain like a knife as I stammered, "yeah, yeah, there's no need to shout."

"I didn't shout," said Haruhi to my left, "you've become so distant recently and it's really worrying me."

"No, you weren't listening," said Haruhi to my right, "if you were then you can tell me what I was just saying."

I whimpered as the voices of Haruhi overlapped and the pain forced my eyes closed, in the vain hope that at least one of them would go away. I tentatively opened them again and glanced left and right, groaning as I saw a Haruhi on each side. The one on the right was glaring daggers, whilst the other on my left was anxious with concern. I closed my eyes again, cradling my head in my hands and before peering up in the hope that at least one of them had gone.

"What you doing Kyon?" said Haruhi eagerly, her grinning face inches in front of mine. "Come on slow poke, we've got another scene to shoot."

My whimper became a little laugh as struggled to keep my mind inside my skull. Unable to take it any longer I launched myself off the bench, moving to push the Haruhi in front out of the way. But I merely passed straight through her as she vanished into thin air, sending me sprawling in the dirt.

"Are you okay?" cried a Haruhi behind me in panic, but I waved her away. Scrambling to my feet I tore off in the direction of the boy's bathroom, where my lunch immediately came straight back up again.

After that, so slowly I didn't even realise I was doing it at first, I started avoiding Haruhi. I made lame excuses and forced the others to cover for me, anything to not go through experiences like that again. Partly from the pain in my head, but more so from the agony in my heart when I saw the worry in her eyes.

I spent most of hiding in the club room now, hoping they would find some solution, but It was useless. Since we often just ended up sitting there waiting for something to happen, before meandering home out of boredom. Almost everyone had left today, only Nagato sat there silently reading a mystery novel. I pulled up a chair opposite her and looked out at the emptying school, students chatting happily as they headed for the gate.

Ignored by them sat Haruhi, no doubt waiting for me to meet her as she looked up at a crowd of boys and sighed. She looked so painfully alone, that it was hard for me to look at her and decided it was probably time I left. As I turned I saw that Nagato was watching Haruhi as well, seemingly deep in thought as she watched with her large expressionless eyes.

"Nagato, I've been thinking about what you said with these previous, what did you call them, iterations?" I said as Nagato slowly turned and looked up at me, silently waiting for me to continue. "You said that Haruhi used to lead us in some sort of brigade and that she'd get us to do all these weird things?"

I waited for confirmation from Nagato and after a short while, she nodded. I hadn't totally believed all of the strange adventures that Nagato had told us about. But there was something so familiar about them it was hard to ignore, especially with the strange flashes of memory that accompanied her words. Since it didn't seem like Nagato was going to actually say anything, I continued awkwardly, "Wouldn't it make it easier if our experiences now more closely matched those of our predecessors?"

There was still no response so I carried on in vague ramble saying, "the hardest part of these strange memories is when they're so different from what happened before. It can be hard to tell what's real when my senses are dealing with such radically opposing things."

Nagato still sat there silently, forcing with increasing exasperation to continue this one-sided conversation. "Well I was thinking; it might make things easier if Haruhi joined us up here in the club room. Maybe we could try and recreate some of these past events, see if it helps improve our mental states or at the very least you could study her up close to find a way out of this mess."

The complete lack of any reaction from Nagato was knocking the wind out my sails, as my speech slowed and petered out. With a sigh, I pulled my chair closer to her and said slowly, "Okay the truth is all this secrecy is making it hard for me to be around Haruhi. I know I've been distant from her and it's really wrecking things between us. You've made a big thing about how important the relationship between Haruhi and me is, but it won't last with things as they are."

I was practically pleading with the strange alien girl now as I added, "I could really do with you guys watching my back. You know, keeping me on an even keel when things get bad and I'll do the same for you. I'm sure together we can beat this thing, but we… okay, I need Haruhi here, we wouldn't need to tell her everything, but I'm sure it will help."

Nagato looked away from me as I realised my voice had started to shake. I steadied myself and said, "look all I'm asking is to let her come here and mess about. It sounds like that was all she used to do here anyway and maybe it'll be fun, take our minds off all this."

There was another long silence and I was about to give up when Nagato finally replied. Her voice was so quiet that I had to lean in close to hear her as she said, "I am not sure it will help our situation. Suzumiya's presence may only exacerbate the neural anomalies we experience, especially yours. It will also be challenging to hide our true natures when we are unable to fully control them."

"Well they're going to happen anyway," I said with a disheartened shrug. "I'm sure we can all handle the odd moments if it means we find a way of escaping this and I'll convince Haruhi you're all just a bit weird."

I thought there was a hint of smile at the corner of Nagato's mouth, but it was gone in an instant. She reached up and made to take off her glasses and polish them, which would have been fine if she was actually wearing any. She let out a little sigh at her empty hands and said haltingly, "They are only brief moments for yourself. But I am able to recall much of what my previous iterations have experienced, especially those that were also part of the Data Integration Thought Entity. Though it's is the memories of those of me that were not, that I have found the most troubling. I did not anticipate that their emotions would be so powerful, to the point where I am forced to question my functionality."

Nagato looked at her small hands and continued in a distant voice, "I am, afraid of these memories. The emotions they contain can be, difficult to comprehend. The complexity of the data is often overwhelming and I struggle to maintain control."

I took her hands in mine and I was surprised to find them shaking slightly. "Believe me, I know how hard it can be to tell what's real," I said with a comforting smile. "I swear if you allow Haruhi in, I'll do everything I can to fix this and if it's too much for you'll, then we'll leave you in peace."

I hadn't realised just how close me and Nagato had become, her cute features filling my vision as I felt her fingers squeeze mine. For a brief moment I saw another Nagato looking at me, bright eyes gazing at me from behind round glasses as a blush lit up a shy smile. I could feel my own cheeks becoming flushed, while my heart began to pound with the intensity of the memory. In that second I knew that once, long ago, there had been more than friendship between us. With a pang of regret, I forced the vision away and the smiling girl vanished, to be replaced by alien features, whose cheeks still held the slightest tint of a blush.

I grimaced as I let her hands go, her stare infuriatingly vacant as I tried to understand what the strange girl was thinking in that moment. Maybe I didn't really understand what Nagato had been through, I'm not sure anyone could as she sat alone through countless repetitions of this world. She looked at her hands again, her fingers rubbing where mine had been a mere moment ago.

"You are correct," said Nagato slowly without looking up, "I have to place these emotions aside and remember my mission. Keeping you and Suzumiya together is paramount to its success if that means bringing her here then so be it, I just hope the cost is not too great for any of us."

"It'll be fine," I said with an encouraging smile. "I'll go talk to Haruhi and have her come up tomorrow so that I can introduce everyone."

Nagato's cold face didn't portray any enthusiasm, but she nodded regardless as she said. "I shall discuss this with the others; I believe they will agree once they understand the stakes at play."

"That'll be great," I said with a desperate surge of determination as I stood. "Anyway I'd better go and find her, so I guess I'll see you later."

Nagato simply nodded and grabbing my bag, I headed for the door. I looked back at the strange little girl, but she only stared blankly back at my hopeful smile. With a final wave, I let her be and walked down the corridor, feeling positive for the first time in a while at the potential for my new plan. I smiled to myself as I turned the corner and…

CRACK!

The pain exploded up the side of my face as I was sent staggering sideways. I put my hand to my cheek and searched about without comprehension. Then emerging from the shadows was Haruhi, her face horrifically contorted by anger.

"Is this, is this where you've been?" Stammered Haruhi as her eyes blazed with fury.

"Yeah," I stammered nervously, "up here is the club room, I told you before."

"Well it must be a pretty fun place because all the other clubs went home half an hour ago," snapped Haruhi. "I've been waiting for you for ages, getting sick with worry that you'd had one of your attacks."

"Don't worry I've been fine," I said with a hint of irritation. "Actually I was just looking for you to ask if you'd like to join the club, they're all fine with it."

"Really," said Haruhi sarcastically. "I'm surprised that she'd be fine with that."

"Who?" I said in confusion.

"That girl I saw you talking to in the window, the one your face was inches away from!" Spat Haruhi with a venom that was terrible to see.

"What, Nagato?" I said in disbelief. "As I said I was just asking her if it would be okay for you to join the club."

"Why would I even want to," asked Haruhi with a mocking laugh. "What's so amazing about this club that you'd rather spend your time with them, than me. I certainly wouldn't want to be interfering with you and this Nagato and what about that Mikuru, is she part of this too?"

"It's not like that, they err…" I stammered as I tried to figure out how best to explain it, without saying too much. I knew this was a bad time to be evasive, so I ploughed on in the hope she'd believe me. "They have the same erm, 'condition' as me, where they go all weird and space out, and stuff. We've been helping each other understand what's going on and hopefully deal with it."

My vagueness was not helping my argument and the increasingly incredulous look on Haruhi's face was testament to that. In my desperation, I decided I had no option to tell her the truth and hope that she'd believe me, even though I knew it was a long shot. So I tried to calm my nerves as I said to her, "Haruhi I want to ask you, do the names Yuki Nagato or Itsuki Koizumi mean anything to you? You already know Mikuru Asahina, but we were all part of a Brigade that you start…"

"What the hell are talking about Kyon, no I don't know this Koizumi or this Nagato, other than that she's some hussy you've…"

"Just listen to me!" I screamed at Haruhi, so loud it caused her to stagger back in surprise. "We were all part of club called the SOS Brigade, that you started. Heck it's full name was the, 'Spreading Excitement all over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, I think.' We went on adventures, made a movie, wrote a book, so many crazy things. Then something went wrong and time got reset, repeatedly until all that left was these strange vague memories."

I was rambling now, strange thoughts and memories that I'd never even recalled before, spilling out in a mad panic. "Please Haruhi," I begged, desperate for her to remember our previous lives together. "Do you remember any of that, does it even stir the tiniest hint of a memory in you, at all, please?"

Haruhi's expression went from anger to disgust and then to fear as I rambled on like a madman. Ranting the first thoughts that came into my head, "the others, they're special. Asahina is a time traveller from the future, Koizumi is an Esper and Nagato, I swear is an actual alien. They've all been sent to…"

"Seriously!" Roared Haruhi suddenly, cutting off my insane dialogue as her face contorted into a nightmarish form.

"Seriously Kyon, do you really expect me to fall for that, for that… bullshit!" Screamed Haruhi, angry tears starting to stream down her face. "I knew you might have some rubbish excuse, but this, this is so far beyond that. Do you really think I'm that stupid, that I would believe something so idiotic, just so you could cover your ass?"

Her seething rage turned into anguished sobs that ripped through into my heart as she forced out, "You really think that little of me, I thought we were friends, I even dared to think you loved me. But it's clear that I don't mean anything to you, that you wouldn't even do the honourable thing of breaking up first. I thought you were a decent man Kyon, I didn't think you were the type to two timing or was I just a bit on the side?"

"Haruhi, you've always been the only one for me!" I shouted back. "I swear to all the gods that will me that, that is the truth.

"Right, so you swear there has never ever been anything between you and that Nagato?" Demanded Haruhi, her eyes seeming to glow with hatred.

"N-No…" I started, but the microsecond pause of doubt, caused by my train wreck of a mind was enough.

"Hah, I knew it, I knew you were full of crap," laughed Haruhi wildly.

"Please Haruhi, try and remember if you do all this will make sense." I pleaded on my knees, not caring how mad I sounded.

She blinked for tantalising second, then glowered as snarled, "Enough of your lies, Kyon. I don't want to hear about your lunatic friends and that asylum of a club. All I ever cared about is us two, together. But it's clear you don't give a shit and maybe you never did."

She wiped the tears from eyes and span around, heading for the stairs. Turning back one last time to glare at me, her beautiful face corrupted by pain and anger.

I called her name desperately, but she snapped back, "I don't want to hear it Kyon. In fact, I don't want to see or hear from you ever again!"

She wiped her eyes again and with a final anguished look vanished down the stairs. I caught a final glimpse of her yellow ribbons streaming out amongst her long brown hair and she was gone.

"Haruhi, please listen, please remember," I whispered hopelessly to the empty corridor.

No, I wouldn't be beaten yet, I put all my strength into my legs and pushed myself after her, even as my brain screamed in agony. But the floor suddenly rolled underneath me, making me stumble like a sailor on a storm wrecked ship as I forced myself forward. Even as the world contorted around me like a nightmare, I refused to give up. Resorting to crawling down the telescoping hallway on my belly in desperate pursuit of Haruhi.

Glancing behind me I saw Nagato standing in the club room doorway, desperately gripping the doorframe. There was a surprising look of heartbroken devastation on her face, like all vestiges of hope had been ripped from her heart. The Nagato gritted her teeth and suddenly lunged towards me, struggling with the pitching corridor, until she too crashed to the floor. She desperately reached for my hand, eventually clasping it tightly as I felt something thin and rectangular squeezed between our palms.

All the colour began to drain from the world as the view beyond the windows vanished into a grey void. As Nagato and I looked at each other, I thought I saw a tear on her cheek for a second. Then this world too, came to an end.

 _[The sensation was incredible, the feeling raw psychic power coursing through me was so remarkable it was beyond description. I'm wasn't sure what had exactly drawn me to this particular school, but I had felt the change in the air and the awakening of my abilities, the moment I stepped over the boundary. I surged into cool night sky on this this glorious night of Tanabata, giddy with my new found freedom as twisted and turned like swallow. It was then I saw a curious sight, a girl my own age was marching around the school field pushing a line painter._

 _Her face was set with an angry determination that was both beautiful and terrible to behold, as she painted this intricate pattern across the field. Its meaning was beyond me, but the passion in the girl's eyes as she worked filled my heart with empathy. I knew in that moment that I loved her and that I would follow her to the ends of the Earth if she wished me to._

 _Seeing her there, all alone in the dark pained my young heart and I longed to go to her, to comfort her. But as I flew close a great giant loomed up through the night, it's enormous body rippling with blue and white light as it loomed above her. Then as if by instinct, I knew what I had to do.]_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 5**

 _[Attention, secondary energy spike detected._

 _Activating support protocol._

 _Beginning observations…]_

Today I marvelled at my first day at my new high school and I wasn't impressed. This place was quite frankly a completely dump and I stared out of the dusty window at the students trudging up the hill to the gate. It should have been a lovely spring day with the cherry blossoms welcoming us to the start of the next stage of education. But the cherry trees were instead horrible twisted things, clawing at the sky with dead branches, like a witch's fingers. I looked around for a nicer view and only saw the patchy playing field. The grass was sparse and unkempt, with the bare earth that still bore the faint remnants of a pattern drawn on the field in white paint. I traced the lines, trying to piece together the final image and wondered what it had once meant, to the girl sitting quietly at the desk behind me.

Yeah, I knew who she was, heck every kid in town knew the name of Haruhi Suzumiya. The girl who three years ago on the night of Tanabata, had launched a reign of artistic terror. Drawing strange symbols in on parks and playing fields across the town, until the police eventually stopped her. They had never uncovered a reason for it, but it had caused quite a stir amongst the students planning to come here, with some parents demanding she go elsewhere.

But despite or possibly because of its rundown state, this school had welcomed her anyway. Maybe due of her exceptional grades or maybe simply the staff liked to take on troubled students, she'd been allowed to come here. Though it was not like I could complain myself since they had let me despite my own questionable record, which I'd already heard being whispered throughout the class.

I just hoped that the class wouldn't drag the rumours out too much, I'd been planning to make this a new start for me, free from the problems that had plagued my middle school years. I wondered if this Suzumiya was also wanting to make this a new beginning, a chance for her to shed off the past as well and get back to a normal school life. So in a gesture of friendliness and community spirit, I turned around to talk to her.

As I did it felt like the classroom began to grow warmer, Suzumiya looked up at me and in a beautiful moment, she smiled. I blinked against its radiance as it lit up the dark recesses of my heart, like the floodlights of a baseball stadium and there was no way I couldn't smile back.

"Why are you looking so happy?" Came a harsh voice, snapping away the light and returning me to the dusty, cold room.

That brilliant smile vanished in a second, replaced instead by the kind of derisive sneer that queens reserved for ill-mannered peasants. My heart sank as I realised that it had happened again, despite my hopes, my mind was still playing tricks on me. Even though I knew it was too late, I quickly stammered together an apologetic, "sorry I weird out sometimes."

Suzumiya narrowed her eyes at me, considering me like a bug she wanted to crush. Before slowly stating, "You're that weird one that everyone's been talking about, 'Crazy Kyon' isn't it?"

I flinched at the name and nodded forlornly, it seemed my reputation had preceded me just like hers. Because just like Suzumiya, I too had a rather eventful Tanabata three years ago, though it felt like a lifetime ago. Certainly, my life had changed forever that night, as I'd had been hit by a what had been described as a massive seizure, that screwed my mind up for good. Now I was plagued by migraines, confused memories and the worst of all, incredibly vivid hallucinations.

My middle school years had been hell from then on, frequented by many fights, suspensions and a few broken friendships. I'd thought I had got the better of my fractured mind, but that image of a smiling girl a moment ago had proved me wrong. I tried to stop myself from sinking into despair, determined that I would soldier on in an attempt to be as normal as possible.

Suzumiya eyed me suspiciously, so I quickly rummaged around for a normal first day at school thing to say to her or at least something that didn't involve either of our pasts. I glanced at the empty space in front of the doodle stained blackboard and awkwardly asked Suzumiya, "So, what do you think our homeroom teacher is going to be like?"

Suzumiya looked surprised by the question but gave it some thought for a while as she picked at the peeling paint under the window sill. Eventually, she replied dramatically, "I hope they're cute. Yeah, not some dried up old prune, someone young, fun and adorably clumsy."

I laughed and said, "there's no chance of us getting someone like that, in this place."

Suzumiya made a sulking face, but I was forced to eat my words as at that moment a high voice stammered, "sorry everyone."

Then the jaws of every guy in the classroom hit the floor, as in walked the cutest teacher, that I had ever seen. Long auburn hair, framed large brown eyes and cute red lips, before cascading over a blouse that was barely containing her frankly stunning bosom. Her short black skirt didn't cover much of her elegant pantyhose covered legs, that led down to a pair of black high heels. Which she immediately tripped over.

There was a squeak of fright as papers were sent flying and the class was treated to an eyeful of the teacher's generous cleavage, as she desperately tried to gather her notes back up. The boys on the front row valiantly leapt to our teacher's aid, catching envy from the other guys and scorn from the girls. I then turned to Suzumiya and smirked as I said, "looks like you got your wish."

Suzumiya scowled at me and looked away, clearly not deeming my lechery worthy of a response. So I shook my head and shrugged, returning my gaze to the front, where order seemed to have been restored. The teacher finally introduced herself as Miss Asahina, trying hard to regain her composure while she stammered through the usual welcoming speech.

Then everyone introduced themselves, unsurprisingly Suzumiya was met with the cluster of whispers and glances. She began loudly declaring that she didn't care what anyone thought unless they were someone interesting like an Esper or time traveller, but was quickly cut off by the rather rattled Miss Asahina. More whispers met me when Suzumiya bitterly snapped that my name was Kyon before I had a chance to say otherwise. Judging by muttered sound of that accursed nickname, it looked like I was stuck with it for good. Whether I liked it or not, Suzumiya had cemented that name in the class consciousness, though I should be thankful she at least left off the 'crazy' part.

The day carried on much as you'd expect, at the end of lessons I sat waiting for Suzumiya to get bored with launching things at me with her ruler, but she wasn't. I was about to yell at her when a shadow blocked out the weak sunlight, looking up I saw a girl with what I think was meant to be a welcoming smile. She flicked out her long blue hair before saying brightly, "I know both of you have had problems in the past. But I've analysed your situations and I hope you two will integrate into our class family successfully."

She clapped her hands and beamed a smile so artificial it made me wince. I managed a weak one back, but Suzumiya only snorted decisively, clearly unimpressed with the greeting. There was something really unsettling about the girl, her face looking like a mask from what I could only assume was layer upon layer of makeup. Her maternal tone had a strict edge, that gave you the feeling that any disobedience would be met with severe punishment.

A twinge in my back made me sit up as our teacher walked up and smiled a far more pleasant smile at us. Miss Asahina said with a determined cheerfulness, "Thank you Asakura. Yes, I do hope that everyone here will get along happily. I don't want anyone to be unwelcome and I would really like you all to feel like you can come to me with any of your problems."

Miss Asahina's warm smile seemed to particularly fall upon me as she said this. Though it was clear she was still nervous, especially strangely of Asakura. Like most new teachers, Miss Asahina had that strong desire to be friends with her class along with being an educator, that often didn't quite work out. There was an air of expectancy hovering between us right now and it didn't seem like Suzumiya was going to reply anytime soon. So I reluctantly said, "don't worry, I'll try to keep my weirdness to a minimum and try not disturb anyone."

There was still a silence as the pair looked at Suzumiya hopefully, as she tried her hardest to ignore them. Finally, she deemed us worthy of a response and said, "oh okay I'll play along, though you lot all look boring anyway."

"Well sorry," I snapped as I span around to face Suzumiya, fed up with her negative attitude to everything. "Sorry that I'm too boring for the almighty Haruhi Suzumiya. Maybe I should just let my condition get worse, just so that I might present a small amusement to your highness."

Haruhi flushed angrily and snapped back, "well maybe if you turned out to be a Slider or something else cool, then you'd be interesting. Not just some rude idiot, who can't keep a grip on reality and whines all the time about it."

"I don't whine, this is a serious medical condition," I shouted back as my migraine flared. "Maybe if you actually had some empathy and lowered your stuck up nose once in a while, you'd realise that."

"Kyon please," jumped in Miss Asahina, before Suzumiya had a chance to retort. Our teacher then flinched at her mistake of using my nickname, but I waved it off with an angry glare. Miss Asahina stammered, "Anyway, I would really like you two to be friends, it's important to me and the future." There was a slight pause then she added cumbersomely, "of this class."

Miss Asahina was pleading so forcefully that it was embarrassing, so I gave a vague grunt of affirmation to cover my own awkwardness. I didn't look to see how Suzumiya responded, but I heard a tick of irritation followed by a quiet "fine, if it means you'll leave me alone."

"As for your, condition," Miss Asahina said with a pause. Before sighing as she added, "Kyon. If you run into any problems, I want you to tell me straight away."

"Alternatively come to me, this condition of yours sounds quite fascinating," added Asakura. But her compassionless smile that would have better befitted a mad scientist looking at a lab rat. Made me decide immediately, that I would be going to Miss Asahina if things became really bad. Though if I could I'd rather handle it all myself, as I hated their pitying looks even more than scared stares.

"Thanks, but I'm pretty good a handling it myself," I said hopefully. Today hadn't been a great start to the school year, but maybe once things settled down I'd be okay or at least under control. I turned to say something to Suzumiya, feeling like I needed to clear the air with her. But she had already slipped out and I found myself with a strange disheartened feeling in my chest. I gave some more vague goodbyes, before quickly heading off home, thinking I might catch up with Suzumiya. But she'd already disappeared down the hill and the walk home suddenly felt dismally long.

The days started to file past as you'd expect of the drudgery of high school life, unfortunately, though my crazy brain wasn't going to let me relax. My chaotic memories were playing havoc with my mental timetable, constantly sending to the wrong places at the wrong times or shifting classes from one day to another. To be honest the only real highlight of the day was gazing at Miss Asahina, as she blushed furiously after messing up yet again. You couldn't have hoped for a lovelier teacher, always sympathetic to my plight and even seemed to have infinite patience for Suzumiya's taunts. But she was hopeless as an actual teacher and was so inexperienced, I wondered if she'd more than a crash course in training, before coming here.

The more mean-spirited girls, no doubt jealous of the looks the boys gave her, soon discovered a strange tic with our teacher. Often asking her something as simple as today's date or just the time, would send off in a flustered spiral that was rather amusing at first, but soon became worrying. In the end, it was usually down to Asakura to restore order, who's sinister air of authority would intimidate even the most mischievous of pupils, with only Suzumiya seeming immune.

Suzumiya didn't seem to take much interest in such antics, instead focusing her energies on butting heads with me. Whatever enmity she held for me had utterly failed to dissipate, despite my best efforts to befriend her. Not that I really cared, it was like I particularly liked her or anything, it was just getting annoying dealing with her constantly and always managed to trigger the crazier parts of my brain. What made it worse was that she was exceptionally bright and could breeze through any work set for her, regardless of subject. This meant of course that she was permanently bored and took all of it out on me, which made for example algebra, even harder than normal.

This particular morning, Suzumiya had spent most of the lesson setting my brain on edge, by continually tapping her nails on the graffiti stained desk. Before eventually complaining, "Urgh, you're so boring Kyon, why can't there be someone interesting in this class for a change?"

"Well I'm sorry we're all too dull for you Suzumiya," I said. "I'm afraid not every class can have, aliens, time travellers, sliders and..."

I was cut off by a figure walking past and sitting at the empty desk next to Suzumiya. A boy sat down and said formally, "please pardon the intrusion, my name is Itsuki Koizumi, I'm pleased to meet you."

But before I could reply, Suzumiya leant towards him with surprising enthusiasm asking, "wait are you an actual mysterious transfer student?"

Koizumi blushed a little and said politely, "Well I don't know about mysterious, but I am a transfer student."

Suzumiya slumped back dejectedly and said, "at least you'll be more exciting to talk to than Kyon here."

"I don't know about that Miss Suzumiya," chuckled Koizumi as he raised an eyebrow. "From what I've heard this is quite an interesting class, it certainly has some unusual folks here."

"Hardly," scoffed Suzumiya, "everyone here is boring. You'd better be at least vaguely interesting Koizumi; I don't want to have to go back to talking to Kyon."

"Yeah we wouldn't want that," I said sardonically. "We wouldn't want you to die of boredom from being forced to talk to me."

Suzumiya scowled at me, before standing up with hands on hips, heedless of the fact we were just about to start our next class. She loudly declared, "come on Koizumi, I'll show you around this dump, it's certainly more interesting than here."

"I wouldn't," I said as I ignored the look she gave me. "God knows what she'll do to you."

The tips of Suzumiya's fingers grazed my nose, as I narrowly dodged the slap that hurtled towards me. "How dare you say that," she shrieked, "I'm not like that kind of girl."

"Oh please," I sighed back with a roll of my eyes. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I merely implied that you might drag him on some escapade to draw all over the field again, like you did, with..." My words trailed off, as I lost track of what I was talking about and I mumbled into silence.

Suzumiya blinked, then turned to Koizumi's amused smile to say dismissively, "Don't listen to Kyon, he's crazy. Let's get out of here before he infects us with any of his weirdness." Before Koizumi could reply, Suzumiya grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the classroom. She gave me a final glare, while he merely shrugged as they disappeared out the door, apparently having no desire to fight her off.

I sighed, admittedly wishing I was traipsing around the school with them, rather than sitting through another dull lesson. Especially when I turned back to the front and met the angry face of the teacher, demanding an explanation.

Such was the pattern of our days, Suzumiya and I would have an argument, she'd get me in trouble, while somehow dodging it herself. But on the plus side, Koizumi and I seemed to have ended up as friends, simply from being two outsiders in the same class. He was a cheerful guy with a nearly constant smile on his face, was thankfully very accepting of my eccentricities. Though I worried about how much sleep he was getting, since the guy looked knackered on most mornings, but he shrugged it off.

I ended up showing Koizumi around the school despite Suzumiya's surprise tour, which apparently had been 'interesting,' but had completely failed to tell him anything useful. Normal things like where the toilets were and the location of the canteen had been ignored, in favour of some weird hidey-hole she'd found near the boiler room.

We were sitting on a quiet lunch break, while Koizumi half watched Suzumiya doing something weird in the distance. The blissful smile on his face had a warmth to it, that in my mind at least, meant only one thing. I sighed and said with forced casualness, "you know I'd look elsewhere if I were you, there's plenty of other girls in class."

Koizumi blinked out of his day dream and raised an eyebrow at me. Giving me a knowing smile as he said, "Why are you calling first dibs?"

Outraged at his accusation I declared, "No way, she's crazier than I am, plus she hates my guts."

"She certainly harbours a lot of anger towards you," Koizumi chuckled. "Though I wonder whether you're the cause or just the person she feels most comfortable venting at." He stretched his arms, then rubbed a bit of sleep out his eye, before taking a sip of coffee and continuing. "Believe me, there are certainly worse ways for Miss Suzumiya to take out her frustration, than a shouting match with you."

"Even so, I don't get why she's so angry all the time," I said with irritation as I watched Suzumiya eating her lunch with surprising ferocity.

"I think she might actually be lonely," said a soft female voice.

"Well if she wasn't so taciturn, she wouldn't have to be," I said waving a hand at Suzumiya. Which made her look up at me, then scowl and storm off.

"Sorry, what was that?" Asked Koizumi puzzled.

I looked about in confusion, searching for the source of the female voice and sighed at the empty air next to me. Koizumi studied me with concern, so quickly I said, "sorry I thought I heard someone say something, but I was just being weird."

"Out of curiosity, what did they say?" Asked Koizumi as he tilted his head in concentration.

"Well, I thought I heard Miss Asahina say that she thought Suzumiya looked lonely, but she's all the way over there," I said reluctantly, pointing at our teacher as she sipped some tea, carefully watching Suzumiya stroll across the courtyard.

"Interesting," pondered Koizumi. "You know regardless of who said it, they may have a point."

I could distantly see Suzumiya sitting alone on a wall, swinging her legs as she finished her lunch. "Maybe, but it's not like no one has tried to befriend her," I said. "Anyway, I wouldn't trust anything my crazy brain comes up with."

Koizumi was thoughtful for a moment and said, "have you ever considered that what you experience isn't psychological. But rather some form of unusual phenomena or special ability?"

I admit the thought or more correctly the hope of such a thing had crossed my diseased mind. There was something that could be considered evidence, but it always felt more like a feeble attempt to clutch at straws. My hand went to my wallet, contemplating whether to show Koizumi my one anomaly, but I worried at his response. Others who I had long considered friends, distanced themselves when I had become obsessed with finding its meaning and now I kept it hidden away as a sort of keepsake.

Instead, I said dismissively, "I doubt it, it's not like there are real superpowers and even if there was, mine would still be completely useless. I'd rather be able to cast fireballs, fly or travel through time, not go crazy without warning."

"I wouldn't be so quick to cast away the unexplained, there are mysteries out there beyond your understanding or even mine," Koizumi said as he looked at Suzumiya sadly. "I've often wondered if what she searches for, is the sense of awe and mystery, that the rest of the world seems to have forgotten." He looked at his hand and flexed his fingers before adding, "I've considered showing her that there is still some magic in this life, but I worry at the consequences."

"I think it'll take more than a few magic tricks to cheer her up," I said, feeling that I hadn't quite caught his meaning.

"Maybe so," Koizumi said with a weak smile, "I just feel like I want to help Miss Suzumiya in any way possible. Seeing someone who seems like they should be so filled with life, so twisted by anger and pain. Just seems so wrong, that I want to reach out to her regardless of how she responds."

I knew what he meant, no matter how many times Suzumiya yelled at me, I still came back like a moth to a flame. Always convinced that this time I'd would get through to her and she'd smile, when any sane man would have given up. I looked at Koizumi as watched his own fingers gloomily and said half-jokingly, "you sound like you want to ask her out?"

He looked up and blinked a little in surprise, as his cheeks reddened slightly. He coughed politely and said, "I admit the thought had crossed my mind."

"Why not," I said with a shrug, "maybe a boyfriend will relax her a bit."

"Really," said Koizumi with a raised eyebrow. Before adding cautiously, "I wasn't sure whether you."

"No way," I cut in firmly. "She hates me, so don't worry you have all my support to go get her."

I gave Koizumi a light punch to the upper shoulder as he studied at me curiously. I hoped the doubt in my mind didn't show on my face as I gave him an encouraging smile since at least would take some of Suzumiya's ire away from me for a change. But I couldn't get one hundred percent behind him, but whether it was because I thought he was doomed to failure or something else, I wasn't sure.

Koizumi looked at the now vacant place where Suzumiya had been and said, "well I'll think about it. It's not something to go into lightly, so I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing before I start such an endeavour."

I nodded in agreement, dealing with Suzumiya was undertaking in itself at the best of times. Going in without a plan would doom the poor guy to a fate probably even worse than mine. The bell for the end of lunch sounded and with thoughts buzzing around both out brains we headed back to lessons.

But Koizumi didn't seem in any hurry, content to watch Suzumiya from afar, to point where it was starting to get a little creepy. I suspected he might need a shove to get him to act, certainly Suzumiya's worsening behaviour needed to be stopped soon, before she was expelled.

She certainly got close one day when I was heading to get a drink from a vending machine, jumping for the hundredth time at a figure in the corner of my eye. Some joker had placed a mannequin by the window of a third-floor club room and it made my heart jump every time. I kept feeling like it was watching me, but it just sat there motionless every day, seeming strangely lonely in its silent vigil.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a tea from the machine and started drinking when something on the wall caught my eye. Well, it was difficult not to notice the brightly painted symbol, with its vivid reds and neon greens. Roughly it consisted of two squiggly 'S' shapes connected by a red circle at the centre. Around that was a series of semi-circles, green on one side and blue on the other. A gnawing feeling at the back of my skull, made me feel like I'd seen it somewhere before and I leant in close to get a better look.

"Cool isn't it?" Came a proud voice at my ear, making me jump again and making me choke on my tea.

I turned to see Suzumiya grinning right next to me, her face a little closer than I was comfortable with. I edged away and replied nervously, "Yeah, cool, but what is it?"

Suzumiya looked me incredulously, as if the answer should have been obvious and explained, "It's this awesome logo I thought up."

"A logo for what?" I asked, dreading the no doubt bizarre answer that Suzumiya would give.

Suzumiya didn't answer at first, instead, she went over to the vending machine and muttered, "there's never anything good in here." She then gave the battered machine a kick, smiling with satisfaction as a clunk sounded and something rolled into the slot. She took a swig from of bright yellow can of coffee, that I was sure hadn't been part of the selection and gasped joyfully at its bitterness.

"I dunno," Suzumiya said with a shrug. "I just thought it might brighten the place up, maybe catch the attention of someone interesting for a change." She looked at me with disgust and added, "instead it found you."

I sighed with exasperation and said, "Suzumiya, you can't just go drawing on the school, you're in enough trouble for this kind of thing as it is."

From her expression, it was clear that Suzumiya didn't care about her school record. Instead, she asked me, "Why do you care?"

Words caught in my throat as I tried to think of an answer, until I blurted out, "Why would I want you to be expelled?" I clicked my tongue with irritation when she looked away without a word. In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation I poured what remained of my tea on my sleeve and I started scrubbing at the symbol with all my might.

"Kyon, what are you doing," screamed Suzumiya as she tried to pull my arm away from the now slightly blurry symbol. "I spent ages working on that."

"I'm trying," I said through gritted teeth, "to get rid of it before you get in trouble."

But it was too late as we both looked up after hearing the words, "oh ho, what do we have here?"

Asakura smiled at us menacingly, but I shoved Suzumiya away and kept on scrubbing, even though it was now pointless. "Give it up Kyon," said Asakura, grabbing and pulling me around to face her. Her terrifying smile inches from my face as I tried to break free. Then suddenly, without warning, felt the most horrendous pain I'd ever felt in my life. As something cold and sharp pierced my stomach.

The breath went out of me, frantically I pushed Asakura away. Stumbling backwards in terror until I collapsed against Suzumiya's legs.

"What, why did you, why the fuck have you got that knife?" I bellowed incoherently. Watching as the vision of Asakura waving a long bloody kitchen knife with dead eyes began to fade. As I began to lose consciousness I heard Suzumiya scream, "knife where?" as she desperately pulled my hand away from the wound.

Then suddenly the pain was gone, the world snapping back into focus as a cold sweat ran over me. Asakura was still standing in front me, but the knife was gone. I was expecting her to be angry or confused, but instead an expression of curiosity spreading across her face, as she studied me coolly.

Those emotions were saved for Suzumiya, who looked at my wound free stomach, then shoved me over. "Jeez Kyon, you scared the hell out of me" she yelled. "Give me a warning before you start freaking out about knives and stuff next time."

"What's this about knives?" came a voice that was really trying to remain calm.

"It's nothing," I said as I struggled to my feet, still feeling as weak as a kitten as I looked into the concerned eyes of Miss Asahina. "I was just having another weird moment."

If anything this only made our teacher even more worried, turning to Asakura she asked, "I want to know exactly what happened."

"Well I found Kyon vandalising school property," said Asakura pointing casually at the slightly smudged symbol on the wall. "Then he tried to get out of it by accusing me of attacking him."

"That isn't what," started Suzumiya, before I elbowed her into silence. But Miss Asahina wasn't listening, because she was peering at the symbol curiously, tilting her head in an attempt to understand it. After a moment she blinked and shook her head to clear her thoughts, turning slowly around, seeming almost surprised to see us.

"Okay," Miss Asahina said uncertainly, trying to take control. "Let's just head up to the classroom and we'll sort all this out."

I was expecting Suzumiya to blag her way out of it or even just to bolt and run from the school. But as we explained what had happened, she was surprisingly quiet and compliant, if anything she seemed rather shaken up. I tried to take the rap for Suzumiya in a questionable attempt at chivalry, but she was having none of it and Miss Asahina knew us too well anyway. I awkwardly apologised to Asakura, but she didn't seem to mind my accusations, which she apparently considered fascinating. Miss Asahina gave her an uncomfortable look, which echoed my own feelings towards the Class President's unsettlingly benign smile.

I thought that was that, but as I finished addressing Asakura, Suzumiya demanded, "Well where's my apology, Kyon?"

I looked at Suzumiya disbelievingly, but I was too tired to argue with her and head was pounding. So I just said half-heartedly, "sorry for wrecking your symbol or logo or whatever the hell it was."

"Not that," said Suzumiya loudly. "Going all weird on me, it really freaked me out."

"Fine then," I said bitterly, flinching at the volume of my own voice. "I'm sorry for being 'all weird,' I'll try not to do it in your presence ever again."

Suzumiya's face contorted before settling on simply saying, "Fine." Then she stomped out dramatically, which was pointless since she would have to come straight back in a few minutes.

Miss Asahina sighed as she watched Suzumiya go and I asked, "Please don't let this end up with her being expelled."

Miss Asahina raised an eyebrow and said with resignation. "I think it would be in everyone's best interest if Suzumiya stayed where she is. Don't worry I'll smooth things over, though she will have to face some punishment." I nodded in understanding since I'd have probably baulked at Suzumiya getting away completely scot-free. Then as the bell went for the end of lunch Miss Asahina added, "though do you mind seeing me after school Kyon. Don't worry you're not in trouble, I just want to ask you something." She smiled encouragingly and I gave a little shrug in agreement, it wasn't like I was in a rush to be anywhere.

The rest of the school day passed peacefully, with Suzumiya seeming quiet and withdrawn while we listened to the science teacher drone on. Once the bell went and everyone started to head home or to their various clubs, I hung back to wait for Miss Asahina and help Koizumi clean up the classroom. I glimpsed Suzumiya waiting by the door, but she seemed to change her mind as I stacked chairs and was gone by the time I looked back.

Miss Asahina came in a short while later, smiling as she carried some tea in for us, which we both took thankfully. Seeing our teacher like this made me feel like she'd missed her calling as bumbling maid and I had to hide my blush as the vivid image of her in a maid outfit popped in my head. Miss Asahina sighed as she sat on her desk, slipping off her heels, then wiggling her toes in a way that made both Koizumi and me very interested in the bottom of our tea cups.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked reluctantly.

Miss Asahina put down her cup and pushed her hair behind her ears, clearly trying to make herself as approachable as possible. Clearing her throat, she said, "I want to talk about your condition." She saw my grimace and quickly added, "So that I can help you or at least get some understanding of what you're going through. It is my job to look after you while you're here and let say I have, friends in the err, medical profession that might be able to help you properly."

"My parents have taken me to every kind of doctor there is," I said miserably. "There's nothing they can do, apparently biologically speaking my brain is quite normal. I doubt your friends can help me any more than they did and frankly I'm sick of being prodded and probed."

Miss Asahina pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe so. But I would still like to talk about it, like for example, how did this all start?"

Koizumi glanced at her, chiming in with, "I must admit I have been wondering about your condition myself. You've told me a few things, but I would be interested in hearing the whole story." He thought for a moment, then added. "I am also in contact with an organisation, who may also be able to assist you in dealing with your unusual problem."

Miss Asahina looked at Koizumi as he said this with a slight frown but quickly hid it behind her smile. As he chuckled lightly, the feeling that there was some kind of history between the two increased. It didn't feel threatening, though if anything the three of us talking and drinking tea was strangely comforting. Their earnest expressions gave me the feeling that even if I said 'no' now, they would keep asking until I gave in. With a reluctant sigh, I said, "Okay, though it's not very exciting since I blacked out during the most important part."

"That's fine Kyon," said Miss Asahina kindly. "Just tell us what you know, any of it could be useful."

I closed my eyes and began with a sigh, "long ago, in a place not too far away." I heard a cough and opened my eyes to see them both frowning over their tea cups.

"I understand this isn't a pleasant subject for you," said Koizumi with a surprisingly blunt tone. "But please take this seriously, we can only help you if we know the facts."

"Fine," I said with a dismissive wave. "Three years ago on Tanabata, my sister and I had stopped at the park on the way back from the festival. The last thing I remember was looking at the stars while my sister played, then there was a surge of pain and everything went black. Next thing I knew I was being wheeled into an ambulance and was whisked off to the hospital, with my sister bawling her eyes out."

"Did you ever ask your sister what happened?" Enquired Koizumi watching me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.

"Of course," I said. "But she was only little and the whole thing really upset her, my parents got really mad when I kept pressing her for details."

"I can imagine seeing your big brother collapse like that, must have been very scary for her," said Miss Asahina with maternal concern.

"I wish it had just been that," I said grimly. "From what my sister told me, she was playing and looked up to see me wandering the park in weird loops like I was sleepwalking. When she ran over to me, I suddenly screamed and collapsed. Clutching my head with blood pouring from my nose and ears, as I started to shake. It must have been horrible for her, she certainly had nightmares for weeks afterwards."

I took a gulp of my tea as the image of what my sister must have gone through haunted me. "Fortunately for me, a passer-by called for an ambulance and probably saved my life, I just wish I'd been able to thank her."

"You don't know who she was," asked Miss Asahina. "A girl of about your age maybe?"

"No, definitely not," I replied shaking my head. "I asked my sister several times about my rescuer, all my sister remembers is that it was a woman, that she was very pretty and very nice. Oh and that the woman kept calling me Kyon for some reason. Which is where my sister and by extension everyone else, got the name from."

I sighed with exasperation, as both of them smiled with amusement at the oddity that was my nickname. "Sounds like quite a puzzling situation I must say," said Koizumi as he exchanged glances with our teacher. "Are you sure there's nothing else, even something that seems insignificant might help."

There was one thing, but it has earned me a fair amount of ridicule at middle school, where my quest for the truth had become a mania. Reluctantly I opened my wallet and pulled out a laminated card and looked at it. For all intents and purposes, it was an ordinary library card for the local public library, no different from any other. But instead of my name, it had in neat almost printed handwriting, the name, 'Yuki Nagato.'

I had searched everywhere for someone of that name, but there was no one even remotely local and certainly no one on the prefecture's library system. The first thing I'd done when arriving at this school was checking through all the pupils, past and present for that name, but to no avail. I'd stopped at asking the class, though, as jokes of 'Crazy Kyon' and his 'imaginary girlfriend Yuki,' had dogged throughout my years at middle school.

I hoped Koizumi and Miss Asahina would be more mature about such things as I showed them the card. I took a deep breath and explained, "I was gripping this in my hand when they got me to the hospital. Apparently so hard that it cut my hands and they couldn't get it out till I relaxed. It wasn't there before and I've never been able to find the owner anywhere. I mean does the name 'Yuki Nagato' mean anything to either of you?"

Koizumi thought for a while, before shaking his head, though it was clear he wasn't a hundred percent sure. I knew the feeling, there was something familiar about the name, but I couldn't place it. Like an actor, you recognised from another show, but couldn't remember who they were.

Miss Asahina on the other hand, was busy studying the library card with surprising detail. Constantly turning it and squinting at it from odd angles, through a stylish pair of glasses. She would occasionally mutter things like, "fascinating" and, "the signature is all wrong." Which made no sense as the name looked pretty normal, with just the fact that it belonged to a girl that did not exist, to mark it out.

Miss Asahina passed the card to Koizumi, who at first didn't look too impressed, rubbing his chin as he looked at the name. Then he placed it between his hands and closed his eyes, looking like a monk meditating until his eyes snapped open again. "How curious," Koizumi said almost in awe as he spun the card through his fingers, "it's almost like clos…"

Then suddenly he blinked, seeming to remember where he was and handed the card back to me with a smile saying, "that is indeed a peculiar little curiosity. I must admit I'm intrigued to discover the identity of this Miss Nagato, I'll have to make some enquiries and see if I can dig something up."

I snatched the card back quickly, for some reason I didn't like being without it and even having these two handling it felt wrong. Maybe because of its strangeness, gave me the hope that there was something weird going on and that I wasn't just plain crazy. Though I was expecting much help from Koizumi and Miss Asahina, who I was beginning to suspect were just a mad as me.

Miss Asahina was deep in thought for a while, before saying slowly, "Kyon, can I just double check. This happened on Tanabata years ago, at a park and in the evening, correct?"

"Yeah," I said cautiously, "it was the little park just north of here and it was getting quite late. I remember because I was worried about my parents getting angry at me, you know for letting my sister out past her bedtime."

Koizumi was also looking thoughtful as he said to Miss Asahina quietly, "it can't be a coincidence that it happened on the same night."

Miss Asahina nodded in agreement, then seemed to come to a decision. Jumping up and slipping on her shoes, she smiled as she said, "excuse me for a minute boys, I just want to go check on something." She strode towards the door with surprising purpose, waved and nodded to Koizumi, who nodded back.

As she disappeared out into the corridor, I pondered the strange relationship between our teacher and my classmate. If I didn't already know about Koizumi's feelings for Suzumiya, then I would have considered that there might be something sordid going on, but such things were just the fodder of dubious romance novels. If anything they acted like agents with a common cause, though what that cause was, I wasn't sure. Maybe they could solve my problem, but I didn't hold out much hope, I'd been promised such things by many doctors and none had found a solution.

Koizumi smiled at me as we waited, "We'll get to the bottom of this somehow. Though it would be wise to keep an open mind about what we find."

"Don't worry, I'm used too crazy," I said with a sigh. "I doubt anything will phase me now."

"I hope so," Koizumi chuckled. "Say you haven't got a pack of cards on you, maybe have a quick game while we wait?" I shook my head and he shrugged resignedly then nervously tapped his hands on the table like an imaginary pack of cards. An awkward silence settled over the room, that grew until it was thankfully broken by the sound of stumbling feet.

Miss Asahina appeared leaning against the door and looking decidedly worse for wear. Her hair was a mess and seemed to have a few leaves in it, whilst her shoes and pantyhose were splattered with mud. She smiled unevenly and sighed, "Well that was awkward."

"Are you okay?" I asked with growing concern. Glancing at Koizumi for support and instead of being surprised to see a look of irritation on his usually genial face.

I thought I heard him mutter to himself, "What has she done this time?" As he stood up and helped her to the desk.

"Thank you, I'm okay, I think," Miss Asahina said almost drunkenly. "Just trying to wrap my head around it all."

"What did you discover?" Asked Koizumi in a tone of utmost seriousness.

Miss Asahina gave me an awkward grimace then said, "Look, boys, I might be in a little bit of trouble, so I'm going to have to talk to my superiors about this. Do you mind running along now and we'll talk about this another day?"

I was confused, but it wasn't like I could argue back, so with a shrug I made for the door, grateful for the chance to go home. Koizumi, on the other hand, looked angry at the dismissal, hissing to Miss Asahina, "did you at least find out about the woman?"

"You could say that," sighed the teacher, looking away from him as her cheeks flushed.

Koizumi cursed as he rolled his eyes and snarled, "and what about the other thing?"

"It was already there," Miss Asahina snapped back suddenly, clearly not liking her student's tone. "Now please, I need to deal with my people and then we can discuss it, later."

"Fine," said Koizumi through gritted teeth, waving her away. "But you'd better or you'll be hearing from mine too."

Koizumi stormed past as I looked at him nervously, stunned that he could talk to our teacher like that. I'm not sure what had quite happened, but it must have been severe to make Koizumi lose his cool like that. I tried to talk to him about it on our way out the school, but he was lost in angry thoughts as he muttered curses to himself.

As we exited the school gates a large black car pulled up and Koizumi smoothly opened the rear door. He waved at the seat and said, "might I offer you a lift home."

"If it's no trouble?" I said with a mixture of relief and surprise. It was a long slog down the hill to my house and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to skip it.

"None at all," said Koizumi and I was grateful to see the return of his usual smile. So I climbed in and nodded to the elderly driver, who smiled back through his grey moustache. Koizumi closed my door and walked around the car, to slide in on the other side. With a wave from Koizumi, the car drove off, the engine noise barely audible inside the luxurious interior.

The driver looked at the sky and then in the mirror as he said, "looks like we're going to be in for a rough night, sir."

The sky looked pretty clear to me and I was about to say so when Koizumi, gazing out the window said with trepidation, "indeed. It seems events have shaken her up more than I expected. I wish I'd been there when it happened, we might have learned something useful for a change, though it's my fault for not being diligent."

"I wouldn't be so hard on yourself sir," replied the driver. "Our charge is a challenging one and there's no guessing on the whims of such a being."

"I know," sighed Koizumi, "but I feel I've become too comfortable and too lax in my duties. I certainly have become over reliant on our compatriots, frankly, I'd have better luck trying to read the leaves in her tea, than getting her help."

Koizumi then caught my confused expression and added, "I'm sorry Kyon, I'm being quite rude. I promise you I will explain what is going on, I just ask that you hold on till I've had a chance to investigate what you told me. Hopefully, then I will have some answers that will genuinely help you and we'll be able to solve that strange little mystery of yours."

"I wouldn't worry yourself over it," I said warily. Nervous of being in a car with a someone who seemed to be nowhere near as sane as I first thought.

"It's quite alright," said Koizumi cheerfully. "I suspect the unexplained circumstances surrounding your condition, may help solve other mysteries that have plaguing myself as well. But right now we need facts, not conjecture if we're going to get to the bottom of this. Anyway, it can wait as I believe this is your house coming up on the left."

I looked out the window as the car cruised to a halt outside what was indeed my house and it was then I realised that I hadn't even told the driver where I lived when we set out. But before I could enquire the driver opened my door and forcefully helped me out, with an overly polite smile. I stammered a 'thank you,' as Koizumi said, "see you tomorrow, " with a friendly wave.

I waved back as the car sped off, the feeling of despair growing inside me as I realised that my already strange world, was about to become much stranger.

 _[Sir, do you believe these developments will affect your plans?_

 _It certainly changes many factors but I believe I will continue, only our window of opportunity has shrunk considerably._

 _You don't believe it is too late, sir?_

 _Not yet, but right now we have far more pressing matters._

 _Indeed sir.]_


	6. Chapter 6

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya.**

 **Chapter Six.**

 _[Your orders are being switched to a primarily observational role, keep a close eye on the subjects, but keep interactions with them to that of a normal teacher._

But sir, I am so close to uncovering something important, a little more time and…

 _Time, as you well know Agent is the problem, you were lucky that paradox stabilised, we may not be if it happens again._

Sir, that paradox may have been inevitable, things may have been worse if it hadn't occurred.

 _We can't take that risk, the time plane is already showing unusual instabilities and need I remind you of your previous scouting mission there as a rookie._

I remember sir, don't worry I'll be careful.

 _Just stick to your training, keep to your role and try not to run into yourself._

Yes, Sir.]

It was summer again and unlike every other kid in the world, I absolutely hated it. It felt like the same thing year after year, as I lay sprawled on the couch in the sweltering heat. Flicking at my phone and half expecting a call that never came, no matter how many times I looked. The baseball couldn't hold my interest at all today and I'd even tried supporting the stronger team for a change, but the game was still just like every other.

I'd thought Koizumi might have called to see if I wanted to do something, but I had barely seen the guy, even when we still at school. He was far more focused on pursuing Suzumiya, to bother with the likes of me. He certainly had made no effort to explain things like he'd promised, but then neither had my teacher and if anything they both avoiding the subject.

Which was fine with me, one less bit of crazy in my life was a good thing in my view. I could certainly understand why Koizumi would rather focus his energies on pursuing a girl, even if it seemed fruitless. For despite him spending all his time by Suzumiya's side, carrying her bags and fetching her lunch. She seemed to take very little interest in him personally, seeing the dashing youth as nothing more than a lackey and earning her the ire of the other girls.

I ignored the gnawing feeling in my chest, that was combining with my migraine to irritate me to greater heights. I hurled my still silent phone down the couch and tried to close my eyes, which of course meant that the phone immediately started to ring.

"Kyon, your phone's ringing," chanted my sister pointlessly.

"I know that you idiot, you don't have to tell me every damn time," I snapped. My sister was always saying stupid things like this and hearing it every time would be enough to drive a sane man mad, let alone what it did to the already crazy.

As my sister ran off screaming to Mom, I grabbed my phone and answered it with an irritated, "What!"

The voice on the other end was startled and Koizumi stumbled over his words until eventually saying, "good morning, Kyon. Have you heard from Suzumiya at all, recently?"

"No, why should I," I said without much patience. "I don't have her number and I sure as hell didn't give her mine."

"Oh, okay," said Koizumi in an oddly quiet voice. "Say, you don't fancy going to the pool today?"

Koizumi sounded vague and confused like he wasn't sure of what he was saying. Even so, the thought of swimming in that cool water was a good one and maybe the sight of girls in their swimwear would break this lethargy. With a sigh, I said to Koizumi, "yeah, why not."

"Great," replied Koizumi with forced enthusiasm. "I'll see you at the municipal pool in say, about an hour?"

"Sure," I replied simply and hung up.

With a massive grunt of effort, I forced myself to stand and went off searching for my trunks and a towel. I immediately regretted telling my mother, as she instantly told me to take my sister along as well. The little irritant jumping for joy and singing as she ran around fetching her own swimming costume, while my protests hit deaf ears. But at least it meant my expenses for the day were covered, even if I could pretty much kiss any chance of talking to the girls at the pool goodbye.

After what seemed like an age, my sister was finally ready and soon we rattled up to the pool on my bike. Koizumi was waiting with a smile, leaning on his own bike as he watched us approach. I waved a vague greeting as tried to catch my breath and we parked our bikes in the racks.

"Wow, you didn't tell me you actually had friends Kyon," said my sister with a giggle.

Koizumi laughed and said, "well I am for my part and you I believe, must be Kyon's little sister?"

"Yes, this my parasite of a sister," I said mussing up her hair and making her squeal.

"A pleasure to meet you," said Koizumi with a gracious bow. "Kyon has told me much about you."

My sister giggled again and blushed. Making me grab her with a sigh and frog-marched her into the changing rooms, with a cry of, "come on, let's go."

A short while later we were changed, with Koizumi and myself overlooking the pool, surveying the considerable crowd. The heat seemed particularly intense here and the whole place shimmered in a way that made my head pound. Koizumi had a troubled look on his face as he stared into the mid-distance and I asked him if he was okay. He gave an uncertain laugh as he brushed back his hair and said, "it's nothing. I've just been feeling a little strange all summer, I hope I'm not coming down with a summer cold or something."

He was right, there was something really off about this summer and seemed especially today. But I gave a shrug and suggested, "maybe a swim will shake it off?"

Koizumi nodded with a sigh and we started to walk down the steps towards the poolside. It was then that the real reason for Koizumi wanting to come swimming became apparent. For standing there with her back to us was Suzumiya, laughing as she casually threw a beach ball to some younger girls in the pool.

Koizumi opened with a smooth, "Miss Suzumiya, fancy meeting you here."

But she seemed unimpressed as she glanced at him and gave him a vague, "oh, hi Koizumi." Before catching sight of me and suddenly jumping around to shout, "Kyon, who said you could be here?"

It was hard to keep my mind focussed on a response when my eyes suddenly met the full force of Suzumiya in a red and white bikini. She had always been a very good looking girl and if it hadn't been for her horrible personality she would have every guy begging to be with her. I certainly didn't blame Koizumi for using me as an excuse to come down here to see this sight. Remembering my friend's feelings, I pulled all my attention over her left shoulder, making sure I wasn't even vaguely looking down and hoping there wasn't slightest blush on my cheeks. In my peripheral vision, I got the impression of Suzumiya slowly pulling her arms in front of her and I stammered, "It's a public pool, I've got as much a right to be here as you."

"Oh my god, is she your girlfriend?" asked my sister with far too much awe. Breaking the awkwardness and replacing it with something even worse.

Suzumiya went as red as her swimsuit and started stammering denials. I could feel my cheeks burning as I clouted my sibling and said with a hiss, "of course not." Then in desperation to stop her from saying anything worse, I shoved my sister into the pool and ignored her spluttering cries of anger.

I tried to regain my dignity as Koizumi dove in to rescue my sister and helped her to the side, no doubt trying to look heroic. But Suzumiya was too focussed on her own embarrassment and didn't even notice someone running up to us to check everything was okay. Though running wasn't quite the right term, with bouncing being more accurate as our teacher hurried along the poolside.

"Is everyone, okay?" Miss Asahina said breathlessly, as she looked between our flushed faces.

"Yeah," I said awkwardly, trying not to even look in her direction as her one-piece swimsuit was only technically modest. I tried to act casual as I stammered, "So, Miss Asahina, what are you doing here?"

"My superiors…" started Miss Asahina. Who seemed as surprised at the question, as she was oblivious to the stares she was getting from around the pool. "…at the school. Wanted me to keep an eye on any students here and making sure they didn't cause trouble."

Miss Asahina was trying to act casual, but her nervous glances made it was clear that Suzumiya's presence was making her uncomfortable. In turn, Miss Asahina's close proximity was making me uncomfortable and I could feel a blush burning my cheeks as I tried to stop my eyes from looking at her.

This fire was instantly put out when Suzumiya, who had been glaring at me for some time. Suddenly proclaimed, "yes, it's a good thing you're here, who knows what accidents might happen." Punctuating her sentence by grabbing my arm and swinging me towards the pool with an angry yell. I felt a brief sensation of weightlessness as I flew into the air and then gravity embraced me as I smashed into the water.

I struggled to find the bottom for a moment and struggled in the water trying to avoid the kicking legs of other swimmers. Then a strong arm wrapped itself around my middle and hauled me to the surface, bringing me face to face with Koizumi. His handsome features were close, way too close and I somewhat ungratefully shoved him away to gain some space.

His laughter was joined by my sister's as he dramatically flicked his hair back like an actor in a commercial. I scowled and readied myself to hurl some anger at Suzumiya, who was probably gloating from the shore. But instead, she was already stomping off up the poolside, deaf to Miss Asahina and her attempts at discipline. Tired of these fools, I closed my eyes and swam off in an attempt to lose myself in cool calm of the water.

A while later, once my desire for the deep had been satisfied, I sat in the shade of a parasol letting my body dry. I kept half an eye on my sister, who was laughing as she played with some school friends and Suzumiya. While next to me Koizumi and Miss Asahina were having a deep discussion about 'time planes' and 'communication anomalies.' I tried to block out their insane babble and looked about the pool, watching the sunlight sparkle on the water.

Even in the shade, the heat was getting to me and I could feel this horrible pressure on my mind. As I tried to shake it away, I noticed a short and frankly rather cute girl, sitting a few meters from me. She was curled up with her chin resting on her knees and the hollow expression of complete boredom in her large eyes. I was about to talk to her when a shadow fell over me and I felt the pressure in my mind grow, as I looked up at Suzumiya standing over me.

My sister and her friends were standing either side of Suzumiya expectantly, glancing at her as she stood with a beach ball under her arm. Before she could say anything I said, "I'm not babysitting your friends for you, Suzumiya."

Her mouth opened and closed, then was joined by a frown. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to join us," said Suzumiya stiffly. "But if you'd rather sit here on your own, staring into space, then fine." She threw the beach ball at me, smacking me in the face hard enough to sting. Then caught the rebound with the skill of a professional basketball player, but with none of the sportsmanship.

"I'll join you, if that is okay with you ladies," Cut in Koizumi quickly, moving between us.

Suzumiya casually tossed the ball at him with a muttered, "whatever," before storming off with her nose held high. My sister stuck her tongue out in a final act of insolence, then followed Suzumiya with the same dramatic step.

With a sigh, I went back to talk to the strange girl, but she was gone and I had a gut feeling, had never been there in the first place. I felt the unsettlingly pleasant sensation of a woman leaning against my back, as Miss Asahina peered over my shoulder. She frowned as she looked at the empty space I had just been considering, before blinking it away and smiling at me.

"You know Kyon," said Miss Asahina kindly. "You could try and be a little nicer to Miss Suzumiya."

I closed my eyes to her presence and said through gritted teeth, "did you forget she was the one who threw me in. We both seem to rub each other the wrong way, so I'm going to just leave her be."

Miss Asahina gave me an annoyingly knowing smile before saying, "Suzumiya has been hurt by the world. So she lashes out at it and it's not good for her or well, any of us for her to be so angry."

"Well Koizumi seems better suited to the task," I said. Nodding at him as he played with Suzumiya and the younger girls, all smiles as he tossed the beach ball to them.

Miss Asahina frowned at the distant Koizumi. "I'm not sure he has Suzumiya's best interests in mind," she said bluntly. Before catching herself and saying brightly, "I mean, Suzumiya can have more than one friend can't she?"

"Sure," I said irritably. "But does it have to be me?"

"Well, it would do you good too, don't think I haven't noticed how you look at her," Miss Asahina said with a wink.

"What are you talking about?" I spluttered, feeling my cheeks burn involuntarily.

Miss Asahina giggled like a girl half her age and tapped her nose. "Women can spot these things," she said. Then after a massive splash further up the pool added with a sigh, "at least it might calm her down a bit. I've told Suzumiya so many times it's dangerous to dive here, you'd thought all the signs would be enough."

I scowled as I watched the teacher walk off up the poolside, to no doubt fail at reprimanding Suzumiya. What did Miss Asahina know about it, there was no ring on her finger and I'd never heard her mention a boyfriend. Though I suppose a woman with her looks must have guys asking her out all the time.

Still, it didn't mean she knew what I thought of Suzumiya, especially like that. I mean sure I looked at her, she was a good looking girl. Plus, Suzumiya was usually doing something irredeemably stupid to grab everybody's attention, so it was inevitable my gaze would fall on her. Now in a dark mood and calling my teacher an idiot under my breath, I slouched back and dozed off into a fitful sleep.

I awoke to Suzumiya's face an inch from mine. Jumping back in surprise, I whacked my head against the wall and grimaced in pain. She didn't make any move to apologise or give me sympathy, instead eyeing me with a critical gaze.

"What do you want?" I said through gritted teeth as rubbed the back of my head.

"Nothing," said Suzumiya, playing with a strand of her hair. "I was just waking you to say I was leaving."

"Well err, bye," I said bluntly, in no mood for pleasantries.

Suzumiya looked a little stung, but carried on awkwardly with, "I, sorry we, were thinking of getting something to eat and wondered if wanted to come."

I made a face as I wasn't overly keen, but Koizumi appeared and said, "it'll be my treat."

Not one to turn down a free lunch, the deal was sealed by my sister demanding, "come on Kyon, I'm hungry." I sighed, knowing that once she was hungry, she would not stop whining till it was feeding time.

"Fine," I said, stretching as I stiffly stood up. Feeling betrayed by my own stomach as it rumbled at the thought of food. "Let's go and get changed."

A short while later we riding down the hill towards a nearby café, my sister riding on the back of my bike and Suzumiya on Koizumi's. Both girls yelling at their steeds to peddle faster, determined to win the race we apparently had been entered in. Initially, I wasn't fussed, but when I saw Koizumi was taking it seriously, I decided to put my back into it.

It was all in vain, though, as he pulled ahead on the final approach, sliding neatly to a halt as Suzumiya nimbly leapt off like a gymnast. She grinned as she watched me clatter to a stop, my sister whacking the back of my head for being so slow.

"Excellent race my friend," said Koizumi graciously. Though his smile was tainted by smugness as he dramatically wiped the sweat from his brow.

"You're so slow Kyon," said Suzumiya with a victorious laugh. "I think you should pay for lunch since you lost so badly."

"It was only by a few seconds," I pointed out breathlessly. "Anyway, I wouldn't be so ingracious as to refuse Koizumi's hospitality."

Koizumi laughed and said, "Don't worry I'll keep to my word, but next time you lose it's on you."

"Don't think for a moment that I'll be losing next time," I said. Determined to wipe that smile off his face once and for all.

"We'll make it a duel," replied Koizumi with a menacing smile that made it clear he meant it.

"Urgh, stop showing off you two," said Suzumiya with a groan. Storming off inside with my sister in tow, the faint murmur of the 'stupidity of boys' on their lips.

Koizumi and I parked our bikes, then headed into the café to catch up with the girls. I was surprised to see Miss Asahina sitting in a corner sipping from a cup of tea. She saluted us with her cup and smiled, but we carried on to where the others sat. There was an awkward silence as we sat there waiting for our order, I could feel my sister's feet gently tapping my shins as she swung her legs in boredom.

"So, Miss Suzumiya," started Koizumi clumsily. His usual casual tone failing to mask his forced enquiry. "What are doing after this?"

"Not much," said Suzumiya with a disinterested sigh. "This town is so boring, there's no excitement, adventure or even the vaguest hint of a mystery."

"Well, maybe we could join you, together might find something strange and unexpected," said Koizumi tentatively. The hints of desperation in his voice becoming apparent even to me.

"Nah," said Suzumiya with a bored sigh. "I'll probably just go home and doze until the summer break is over."

Koizumi went noticeably pale at this suggestion and said in a shaky voice, "I know an interesting mystery, Kyon do you mind if..."

"If you want me to solve the mystery of why Kyon is such an idiot," Cut in Suzumiya." Then you're out of luck, that mystery is beyond even the greatest of super sleuths."

My temper rising, I snapped, "So is the mystery of why you're such a..."

"Please, please," said Koizumi, trying to keep the peace. "I was going to ask Kyon if you minded showing Suzumiya that curious library card of yours?"

"I'd rather not," I replied. Reluctant to give Suzumiya any more ammunition that she could use to mock me.

"Urgh, not Kyon's stupid girlfriend," whined the annoyance that was my little sister.

"Girlfriend!" Exclaimed Suzumiya suddenly, making the whole café look around.

"She's not my girlfriend," I said with a groan. "And don't say it like it was the most ridiculous thing you ever heard."

"You used to go on about her like she was," said my sister. "Yuki this and Nagato that, it was so dumb."

"Who?" Said Suzumiya, tilting her head in confusion.

"Never you mind," I said irritably.

"Please Kyon," said Koizumi trying to wrestle back control of the conversation. "Miss Suzumiya has quite a deductive mind and a far-reaching imagination, she may be able to find a solution we could never have comprehended."

"I doubt it," I said with a harsh laugh. "But yeah sure if it will shut you up."

I pulled out my wallet and had barely removed the library card before Suzumiya snatched it out my hands. Ignoring my demands for its return, she peered closely at the neatly written name as if expecting an answer to leap out. Looking at with an Increasingly irritated air, she eventually gave me a disgusted look and said, "what's so exciting about this?"

I tried to grab the card from between her fingers, but Suzumiya casually slid it back into her palm like a magician. Looking rather pleased with himself, Koizumi said, "Because that person does not exist."

"Ehh," said Suzumiya with an incredulous look at the card. "What do you mean doesn't exist?"

Looking like the cat who had got the cream, Koizumi said, "Through an extensive investigation by Kyon and more recently myself. We can find no trace of the owner of that card, nor is this card registered to any library system. To be honest, I'm quite stumped by this, it really is quite the mystery."

"Yeah, she's Kyon's imaginary girlfriend," added my sister sarcastically.

"She's not my girlfriend, imaginary or otherwise," I said. Knocking the truth into my sister with a light clout and making her whine again.

But Suzumiya wasn't interested because now she was now looking at the library card curiously. As she spun the card through her fingers, an excited light sparkled in her eyes and a grin spread across her face. It was quite a sight to behold and certainly a big improvement over her normal glower of irritation.

"Right let's go!" Suzumiya declared suddenly. Standing and waving the card dramatically with enough force to make all the crockery on the table jump. She was already halfway to the door before I could ask where, her response being an exasperated, "the library of course."

"I've already checked out the library a hundred times," I pointed out, because well, I had.

"Yeah well," said Suzumiya. "You're an idiot who probably doesn't know the right places to look and the right questions to ask."

"I doubt there's anything new to discover there," I said irritably.

"All great detectives solve their cases by removing the most obvious clues first until they find a solution, not matter how improbable they are," Suzumiya said dramatically, her whole body suddenly alive with energy.

"And you're a great detective?" I said sarcastically.

"Yes," Suzumiya said with a grin. "In fact, I am."

I short while later, I sat in a comfortable chair, watching Suzumiya interrogate the librarian. The poor woman was quivering in terror under the barrage of questions that Suzumiya was firing at her, most of which were nonsensical and impossible to answer. Koizumi was trying his best to play good cop, to Suzumiya's bad, but it was difficult for him to get a word in edgeways. I'd tried to talk her out of it, but as always Suzumiya never listened. So, I sat here, out of the way of her 'deductive process,' pretending I didn't know them. Hoping she'd give up or find out something before the poor librarian burst into tears.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so excited about anything before," said a cheerful voice beside me. Startled, I snapped my head around to the chair I'd thought was empty and was very surprised to see a rather pretty girl smiling back.

She had a familiar face, framed by long auburn hair and looked about my age, maybe a little older. I was struck a little dumb by her proximity as she blushed a little and it took me a moment to stammer a response. "She's not normally like this," I forced out, glancing at Suzumiya as she slammed her fist on the desk. "It's quite a shock to see her this passionate, if maybe a little scary."

"But that's a good thing surely?" said the girl.

"Well yeah," I said. "I'm just worried that she's going to get herself in trouble again."

"I can believe that," the girl said with a light giggle. "But she looks like someone who can find a way out of it."

"Probably," I said with a sigh, surprised at how comfortable I was talking to this stranger. "Though I hope she does find out something, no matter how small. I'd hate to see her suffer the disappointment I felt before I gave up, hopefully, Suzumiya will just get bored."

"I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon," said the girl. Then glancing at Suzumiya with concern she added, "though speaking of the time I'd better be going." Her smile took on an amused edge as she stood up and brushed her dress. I watched her leave as she gave me a small nod and daintily walked out the library. As the girl disappeared from view, I turned back to be met by the rather angry looking face of Suzumiya.

She glanced in the direction the girl had left before returning her narrowed eyes to me. "Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Well, while you were busy chasing girls," said Suzumiya grumpily. "I was busy actually trying to solve the case, since you decided to take your time getting here and proceeded to be of no help at all."

Trying not to rise to her, I merely repeated, "but did you find anything?"

"Well," started Haruhi. Leaving a long pause before she eventually admitted, "No. That stupid librarian is clearly just a pawn and knows nothing. Maybe I should try interrogating the chief librarian or someone even higher up."

"Please don't," I said forlornly. "Believe me I've searched this place from top to bottom, there's nothing. Let's just drop it and go home."

"What, there's no way a great detective can just leave a simple missing person's case unsolved," exclaimed Suzumiya. "We've got to keep looking till we find a clue."

"Fine, but can we do it somewhere else," I said, wishing Suzumiya was aware of just how loud she was being. "That librarian looks like she might be ready to call the real police."

Koizumi glanced at the nervous woman who was reaching for the phone on her desk. "Yes, I agree that might be for the best," he added. "I'd rather not tangle with the local law enforcement if it's at all possible."

"Okay," said Suzumiya with a dramatic sigh, clearly disgusted by our cowardice. "I've got a few other places I want to try." Then she rapidly turned on her heel and stormed out, without even bothering to wait for our agreement.

I watched her and Koizumi leave, then signalled to my sister that we were heading out. I thought about the last few summers I had spent here, trying to solve my little mystery. Bothering the staff, sneaking onto the computer system and chasing the images left in my fractured mind. I'd even taken to desperately yanking random books off shelves and a flicking through them, hoping that there might be a note left behind for me.

But there had been nothing, the search that cost me dear friends and most of my sanity, had come to naught. I took a final look at the lines of shelves and only sighed at the vague shadow that I saw drifting amongst them.

I made it outside just Koizumi was starting to move off, with Suzumiya standing on the back of his bike, commanding him onward excitedly. I slung my sister on to the back and peddled after them, straining against the hill to keep up. Though if Suzumiya hadn't been waving the library card ahead of her like a dowsing rod, it would have been tempting to leave them to their own devices.

The plan now was, well, as far as I could ascertain Suzumiya had no plan. Meant we spent the rest of the afternoon chasing her around the shopping precinct as she asked store owners, staff and sometimes random strangers on the street about the girl on the library card. But there was still no success and even Suzumiya's enthusiasm had started to wane a little, as the day turned to dusk. I was more worried about my sister, though, who was starting to fall asleep and I'd soon be carrying her home.

My sister whined her way through a fruitless visit to another café and I stopped Suzumiya before she could head for another. "Can we call it a day, Suzumiya," I said and she looked at me with an irritated expression.

"We've still got plenty of places to try, Kyon," Suzumiya replied. "Mysteries aren't solved by sleeping on the job."

"Well you're welcome to carry on, but I've got to take my sister home before my parents kill me," I said. I stroked my sister's head and she looked at me with sleepy eyes and yawned as she cuddled against my side.

Suzumiya's determined expression softened and she said with a sigh, "okay. I guess we can stop here."

"I must admit I'm thankful to hear that," said Koizumi with a genuine look of relief. "My legs are quite fatigued from all this cycling and a warm bath would be most welcome right now."

"Yeah, it's been a long day," I said with a stretch, liking Koizumi's plan of action.

Suzumiya was considering something, but it was the mischievous glint in her eye that was worrying me. Eventually, she nodded as she said, "yes, I want you two well rested. But only so you can be up bright and early tomorrow, so we can continue our investigation."

"Look I appreciate your hard work," I said with a grimace. "But I don't think there's an answer out there."

"What, we haven't even scratched the surface of this town," Suzumiya exclaimed. "We're not going to rest until we find this Yuki Nagato or die trying."

"Please don't make that literal," I said. "But okay, we'll look a little longer. Though this is the summer break, we're meant to spend it relaxing and anyway, there's still homework to do."

"Homework, I did that ages ago, it's easy, replied Suzumiya, looking at me in disgust.

"Well some of us haven't and don't find it quite so simple," I pointed out.

"Don't worry," said Suzumiya with a groan of exasperation. "I'm sure I'll solve this case in no time, then you can spend the rest of the summer doing your stupid homework."

"I wish I had your confidence, but fine I'll see you tomorrow, just let's try and take it easy," I said.

"We can't take it easy, not when someone is missing," Suzumiya snapped.

But I just gave her a vague wave as I turned, walking away while I pushed my bike and half dragged my sister. It was then Suzumiya suddenly called out my name with a stammer and turning back I saw her holding out her phone. "Kyon, it would be much easier if I had your number," she said awkwardly.

Refusing to meet my eyes, I could see the tinges of a blush form on her cheeks and I wondered if she'd ever asked a guy for his number, even casually. I was so surprised to see Suzumiya looking this awkward, that it made me blush a little seeing that single moment of cuteness. Realising I couldn't really say no without looking like a complete jackass, I gave her my number, even though I was sure I'd regret it. Then after a clumsier series of goodbyes, I left with my sister, who proceeded to giggle to herself all the way home over the whole business.

The following morning and for every morning that summer I regretted giving Suzumiya my number. Now my peaceful slumber was interrupted daily by the call of my phone, even somehow when I was sure I'd turned the damned thing off. Each time she would have some new place to explore, with a new line of enquiry in her determination to solve the case. Not that we were actually getting anywhere with it and it soon became apparent that Suzumiya was just picking places that seemed fun, rather than had any clues.

So she dragged me, Koizumi, and occasionally my sister to festivals, the beach, baseball and a plethora of bizarre activities. Granted it was more fun than doing nothing at home, but I was nearly crippled by constant memory problems and hallucinations that my crazy mind would through up at the worst times. I wasn't comfortable showing this weakness in front Suzumiya, so I tried my best to hide it, but it wasn't easy. Thankfully though Koizumi had my back, along with Miss Asahina, who had an unnerving habit of being in the right place at the right time to help me.

The strangest part was that I kept seeing the auburn haired girl everywhere, to the point where I wondered if she was stalking me, not that I was complaining mind. It became weirder when I realised that the girl wasn't always there, with Suzumiya either complaining that I was talking to her or that was talking to thin air. This seemed to particularly worry Miss Asahina, who asked me exhaustive questions about what the girl had looked like, her age and what she'd been wearing.

By the time the summer holidays ended, we had come no closer to solving the mystery or finishing my homework. Stuck on a question I tapped my pen against the paper irritably, before looking out the window at the night sky, hoping to see an answer amongst the stars. Then looking down at the strange mask that I had bought at a festival, still puzzled at my inexplicable whim to buy it, since I had no idea whom I'd purchased it for. Gazing at the cheap purple plastic and into the large empty eyes, I found no more answers there than I had out the window.

With my brain now in complete mental lockdown, I tried to phone Koizumi, but his phone was off. He was probably deep in the same last minute rush, that I was and no doubt turned it off for some peace. I saw Suzumiya's number in my phone's address book and contemplated asking her, I mean she had bragged about having done all her homework. I looked at the question again, but no matter how hard I focused, my brain just would not think. With a grim determination usually only felt by a soldier heading into battle, I selected Suzumiya's name and dialled.

The phone rang enough times for me to give up, when Suzumiya answered with a flustered, "Kyon!" There was a pause as it sounded like she was making herself more comfortable before she continued with a nervous, "sorry I was asleep, so err, what is it?"

Feeling a little awkward I said, "Say Suzumiya, you said you'd done your homework."

"Oh, so that's all you want," said Suzumiya, her tone suddenly bitter.

"Look I'm completely stuck and if there was anyone else I could ask I would have," I said. "But if you don't want to help, that's fine, sorry for troubling you so late."

I pulled the phone from my ear and was about to hang up when I heard Suzumiya's say, "No wait, Kyon."

With a sigh, I put the phone back and said, "It's fine, it was totally wrong of me to phone you out of blue and ask your help. It's just that this homework has been doing my head in all evening."

Suzumiya coughed as if preparing her voice and said pleasantly, "What's the question?"

I explained the question and though she tried to hide it, I heard Suzumiya scoff at my idiocy. But in the end, she did help me, though she prescribed to the principal of explaining how to find the answer, rather than just straight up telling me it. As a result, everything took far longer than necessary as she led me on complicated loops of enquiry. It also soon became clear that she was doing this on purpose, her voice taking on an increasingly amused tone and failing to hide the occasional giggle.

But eventually, we got through that question and then the next until by the early hours we'd finished. With a yawn and stretch that sent a series of cracks up my back, I stood and then flopped straight onto my bed. Snuggling down, I said sleepily, "thanks Suzumiya, you saved me from a world of detentions."

"Well you certainly needed it," said Suzumiya with a chuckle. "I'm amazed you got this far in school not knowing this stuff."

"Well I've had other stuff on my mind the last few years," I said.

"Yes you do have an exceptionally strange mind, Kyon," said Suzumiya with a tinged with curiosity. "Though I'm sorry I couldn't find out anything about that Yuki Nagato or that library card."

I laughed and said, "Don't worry about it, I never expected you to actually uncover anything. I spent years looking and found nothing, so we were hardly going to find anything over one summer."

"Still, it's so frustrating," said Suzumiya. "I feel like I know her from somewhere, but I can't place it. I was thinking if only I could go back to the start of the summer and try again, I'm sure I could find her."

Suzumiya's suggestion sent a shiver down my spine, but I tried to ignore it as a wave of tiredness overtook me. With another yawn, I said, "Nah, I don't think we'd have had any more luck. To be honest I'm starting to think she never existed at all and it's just part of my craziness."

"Still, I wish I could have found her for you," said Suzumiya. "Then we could have proved you're not even remotely crazy."

"I'm not sure such proof exists," I said with a resigned laugh. "At least none that we'll be able to find without some sleep. I'm going to have to get some rest now or there will be no chance of waking up in the morning, you never know maybe something will turn up at school."

"Maybe," said Suzumiya in a contemplative tone, "I can certainly think of a few places I'd like to try."

"Just don't break any rules," I said with a sigh because I knew she would.

"Don't worry they won't catch me," said Suzumiya.

"I'd rather you didn't do anything that ran that risk," I said. Though from her muttering it was clear Suzumiya was already plotting something and was ignoring me. So I finished the call with, "okay thanks again for your help and I'll see you at school."

Suzumiya seemed to suddenly realise I was hanging up and panicked, spluttering a few random words before settling herself. Then after a polite cough, she said softly, "goodnight Kyon."

"Goodnight," I said cheerfully and tapped to end the call. Laying back against my pillow and feeling good, for what felt like the first time in ages.

Though I was still groggy the following morning, Suzumiya was surprisingly bright and cheerful. Her good mood was spooking our classmates as she hummed and kicked the back of my chair. I wanted to be irritated with her, but it was so nice to see that smile I couldn't do it. Things were good for next few days, but Suzumiya's happiness started to fade as her continued search became ever more fruitless. I sighed as I watched her storming off again around the school, in her own mysterious world ignoring Koizumi and me, as we relaxed during lunch break.

"Miss Suzumiya's tenacity is truly a sight to behold," said Koizumi with a smile as he watched poking around the caretaker's sheds.

"She really needs to give up before she winds up getting herself in even more trouble," I replied with a grimace.

"Yes, I think we could be in for a lot of trouble if she doesn't uncover something soon," Koizumi said matching my concern.

"I don't know why she's so obsessed with this," I said with a shrug. "She's never been interested in my weirdness before."

Koizumi gave me an irritatingly knowing smile. "Who knows," he said. "Though speaking of your peculiarity, how are you holding up, it seemed quite bad over the summer."

I rubbed my temples at the memory and grimaced at a surge of pain that burst in my skull. "It's always there," I said, trying to ignore the Asakura that flickered in and out of existence next to him. "But it was particularly intense during the break for some reason."

"It was a strange summer," said Koizumi wearily. "Even I was feeling out of sorts, let alone how you must have been."

"I never thought I'd be glad to be back at school, but I am," I replied. "Now I can get back to my usual level of weirdness."

Koizumi was thoughtful for a moment then said, "If you don't mind me asking, have you ever considered what these hallucinations portray. For example, are you seeing into other alternate universes or timelines, I presume you've heard of the concept?"

Of course I had, there were any number of films and TV shows that dealt with the idea, though there was a problem tying it to what I saw. "Yeah I've thought about it," I said casually. "But it's always small mundane things, never big differences like; airships, apocalyptic wastelands or dinosaurs ruling the Earth. Which you'd expect to see if you were looking to the multitude of possible universes, there's only been a handful of times when I've seen anything really unusual ."

"What sort of things?" asked Koizumi raising an eyebrow.

"Well there was one time a cat started talking to me," I said. "I almost ran straight to an asylum when that happened."

"I can imagine that must be quite unsettling," said Koizumi, though he seemed more amused than scared.

"Though the worst was when I looked in the bathroom mirror one morning and saw a naked girl looking right back at me," I said.

Koizumi choked on his tea, then forced out, "I bet that was quite a wake-up call. I for one certainly wouldn't mind seeing that every morning."

"Well that was the weirdest part," I said, pausing as tried to explain. "It felt like I was still looking at me, even though my reflection was very obviously a girl."

"Maybe it was you," Koizumi said grinning. "Maybe these are alternate universes you're seeing, only in that one you're female."

"It wasn't funny at the time," I said. "I kept checking myself after that to see if everything was as it should be."

"Still I'd wager you made a rather cute young lady," said Koizumi as he pondered the thought. "Kyon-ko, it has a nice ring to it."

"Get lost," I snapped. Koizumi's face too close to mine as I shoved him back, not liking him thinking of me like that.

"Alternatively maybe that girl is this Yuki Nagato," Koizumi said with a shrug. "Though somehow it doesn't sound quite right."

"I doubt it," I said. "Though it would mean Suzumiya would never find her, no matter how hard she looked. To be honest, I certain now there's nothing to be found, the hard part is letting Suzumiya down gently, convince her it was just a game."

"I admit I never thought she'd take it this far," said Koizumi with concern. "So it may be best to play it off as a jape or create a scenario where Suzumiya believes…"

Koizumi's face went pale as a shadow fell over us. "Where I believe what, Koizumi?" Came Suzumiya's voice with a terrifying anger.

"I'm glad the thought of me running all over this dumb town is so amusing to the pair of you," she continued, her voice cracking as she fought back tears. "How long were you two going to sit here laughing behind my back, while I've been trying so hard to…"

Anything else she said was inaudible, as Suzumiya gave me a final anguished look, then ran off towards the school. Looking at each other in desperation, we tore after her, but she was nowhere to be found. I returned to the classroom, hoping she'd return for lessons but she never showed, leaving me to stare out the window at the sudden torrential rain.

After school had concluded, I gave the place a final futile search, but it seemed hopeless. Putting up my umbrella against the hammering rain, I started to walk down the hill, grimacing as the wind blew spray in my face. It was then I saw a girl walking slowly along without even a cardigan, her sodden yellow ribbons hanging limply amongst her slick brown hair.

I caught up with her swiftly and shoved the umbrella over her head, even if it meant the rain hit me instead. Suzumiya skipped forward back into the downpour and I quickly followed with the growled mutter of, "don't be stupid."

Suzumiya dashed back into the rain and spun around with hands on hips. "What do you want Kyon, can't you see I want to be left alone" she snapped, her eyes glaring through her hair.

My response jammed in my throat as the effect of the rain on her white uniform became very apparent. Trying not to look at the upper curve of her bra, I stammered, "trying to stop you from getting hypothermia."

She peered at my averted eyes, then looked down at herself. I felt a strange mixture of disappointment and relief, as Suzumiya crossed her arms in front of her with a scowl. "If you're going to pretend to be a gentleman," said Suzumiya. "You could at least give me something to put on."

With a sigh as pulled the jacket of my P.E tracksuit out of my bag and Suzumiya snatched it away without a thank you. She gave it a dubious sniff and slung it on, zipping it up right the way to the top. There was a slight smile of relief, but she quickly hid it as she spun back around and started marching down the hill.

Catching up with her once more, only to have her hop away again. I ground my teeth and jumped in front of her, blocking her escape. She glowered at me and I demanded, "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem!" She said with an incredulous gasp. "My problem is hearing you and that idiot Koizumi laughing at me behind my back."

"We were not laughing at you," I said flatly.

"Really," replied Suzumiya in disbelief. "I genuinely thought I had finally a proper mystery, something truly strange and mysterious. But all I've discovered is that it was all a hoax, a big joke by you two at my expense."

"I swear Suzumiya," I said gently resting a hand on her shoulder. "I swear that none of the strange things that happen to me are a joke, because believe me I wish they were."

"I want to believe you, but how can I know for sure," Suzumiya said, flinching away sadly from my touch. "So many kids have laughed at my ideas, taunting me when all wanted to do was spread some excitement over this dull world." She became quiet, then looked up at me with more than rain on her cheeks and placed her hands on my chest. Her face disfigured by anguish Suzumiya stammered, "I had hoped you were different, Kyon. I had hoped you'd understand."

Unsure of how to handle a crying girl, I nervously closed my hands on hers. Feeling the coldness of her clammy skin, I said slowly, "I wasn't laughing at you, I was just laughing at how screwed up my mind is."

I felt her hands squeeze mine and she whispered, "then why do keep wanting me to stop, when I'm sure I'm this close to an answer?"

"I guess I'd rather stay crazy," I said lifting her head so she could see my smile. "Then see you expelled or even arrested because you were busy chasing something that may not even exist."

She looked down and there was a long pause before Suzumiya quietly whispered, "Okay. But please stop calling yourself crazy, I hate that word."

I laughed as I stroked the rain out of her hair, wondering why I wasn't freaking out at holding a girl this close to me. It just felt strangely natural as I said, "if you saw the things I did, you'd call yourself crazy."

"What sort of things?" Suzumiya asked her eyes suddenly looking into mine.

This time the intensity of her gaze made me blush and I looked away, only to see her eyes looking into mine again. "Well for example," I said with a nervous cough. "There's erm, another you standing down the road, looking right at me."

The Suzumiya in my arms suddenly pushed away and spun around excitedly, desperately trying to see her double. "Where, where?" she said, weaving about trying to glimpse the illusion.

I casually pointed down the road to where her phantom doppelganger stood with arms folded, looking like she was sighing at my slowness. I could tell she wasn't real, for the simple reason that she was bone dry and lit eerily by an afternoon sun, that for us was hidden behind dark storm clouds. "She's by the stop sign," I told the real Suzumiya. Who immediately dashed off, equally heedless of the rain to stand by the sign and investigate the area closely.

"What is she doing?" asked the sodden Suzumiya, still excited by what she couldn't see.

"Erm, she has just put her hands on her hips and shaken her head," I said as I moved closer, describing the actions of the double.

The real Suzumiya stood a little to the right of her doppelganger and did the same, though a touch more dramatically. I couldn't help but chuckle at the surreal nature of what I was seeing, even by my standards. But as approached the pair, the double laughed and said, "took you long enough, slowpoke." Then smiled at me far more brilliantly than her real counterpart ever had, before turning and fading away into nothing.

I felt my heart sink a little as that smile vanished and the real Suzumiya asked, "What's wrong?"

Blinking back to reality, I stammered, "nothing. it's just that the other you just left."

Suzumiya followed my gaze down the road but clearly saw nothing. "It's just you looked sad for a moment," she said, "was she like better looking or something."

"No, no," I said with a stutter. "You both look grea… I mean you were both identical. Though she was noticeably drier."

"Well, who's fault was that," said Suzumiya grumpily, turning her back to me.

"Well yours," I pointed out. "You're the one that won't stay under the damn umbrella."

"If you gave me more room I would," Suzumiya said. Shoving into me, but keeping her head bowed as we awkwardly started walking again.

In the distance, I saw the welcoming lights of the café that sat by the station and the just the idea of a nice hot coffee filled me with warmth. Clearing my throat I said, "Suzumiya, do you want to want to grab a drink and dry off a bit?"

Suzumiya was silent for a moment, her face still hidden from me as we bumped against each other under the confines of the umbrella. "Okay," she said with a chatter from the cold. "But on one condition."

"Don't worry I'll pay," I said with a sigh.

She seemed a little surprised that I'd second guessed her, before saying, "Yes, that's right."

I nodded in agreement and smiled as we both crossed the empty road, making for the sanctuary of the café.

Inside we took a table and apologised to the staff for our waterlogged state. The heat from the coffee scorched my throat a little, but the glow it created inside reinvigorated my tired mind. As I put my mug down, I looked up to see Suzumiya peering over my shoulder suspiciously.

"Is something wrong," I said, looking around to see Miss Asahina sitting at another table. She waved at me with a smile, looking a little out of place amongst the soggy patrons in a light summer dress and straw hat.

"That dumb teacher is everywhere," said Suzumiya irritably. "Always popping up at the strangest times, I'm surprised you didn't see her when we came in."

"Oh, I saw her, I just thought she was in my head," I said with a weak smile.

"See, that's how weird it is," said Suzumiya dramatically. "I swear she was everywhere over the summer, sometimes I think she's worse than Koizumi and his creepy 'nice guy' act."

"I don't think it's an act, I mean he seems like a decent guy to me," I said with a shrug.

"It was funny having him around as a butler for a while," said Suzumiya. "But he's too nice and he keeps showing up at weird times too, it's unsettling."

"Maybe I'll have a word with him about it," I said with a yawn. The cold had made me sleepy and I opened my wallet, hoping to have enough for another coffee. As I unfolded a rather damp note, I saw Suzumiya's hand edging towards the mysterious library card.

Suzumiya pulled back when she realised I was watching and put it to her mouth as gave a polite cough. "Kyon," she asked formally. "Would you mind if I had another look?"

A little surprised, I pulled the card out and gave to her with a casual, "Yeah sure."

While I busied myself ordering drinks and a pastry each. Suzumiya stared fixedly at the library card, as if trying to will an answer out of it. When our order arrived she sighed and threw down the card in anger, before tearing into the pastry with a vengeance. I picked up the card and looked at it before saying, "I'm surprised you find this so interesting. There's certainly bigger and stranger mysteries in the world like the Bermuda Triangle or Bigfoot."

Suzumiya watched the card as I spun it between my fingers and said, "I don't know. It's just that I've had the constant nagging feeling that I'm missing something important. That everything and everyone isn't behaving like they're supposed to, like, like how I want them to!"

She thumped the table to punctuate her frustration and downed her coffee dramatically. "You can't expect the world to bend to your will," I said with a light laugh.

"I know that," said Suzumiya irritably. "But everything still feels wrong, you know deep down, but I can never figure out what it is. I thought that this card might have the answer, but I guess not." Suzumiya sighed and the looked at me as she asked quietly, "Do you ever feel that way Kyon. That something isn't right, that the world is false somehow?"

"To be honest, my brain has been such a mess for the last three years," I said with a sigh. "I couldn't tell you if this was right world or a wrong one."

"Three years?" Asked Suzumiya, tilting her head in confusion.

"Yeah that was when I blacked out and had some sort of seizure," I said offhand. " The next thing I know I wake with my brain fried and clutching this library card."

"What!" Suzumiya exploded, make every person in the café jump. "You never told me that, I assumed you just found it somewhere. How am supposed to solve the case if you don't give me all facts."

"Suzumiya please," I said waving my hands to try and calm her down. "I guess I thought it wasn't important or that Koizumi had told you."

She glowered at me for a moment, then suddenly started as a thought popped into her head. "Wait, when three years ago?" She asked, her eyes looking a little afraid.

Still feeling unsettled, I stammered, "The night of Tanabata. My sister and I were..."

"Oh my god, are you an alien?" Suzumiya shouted suddenly. He wild eyes and inch from mine, as she grinned manically.

The question was so strange and Suzumiya so close, that it took me a moment to formulate an answer. "What, no!" I said incredulously, glancing about the café at the people staring at us. Miss Asahina's frown making me concerned as Haruhi peered at me closely.

"Are you sure?" Suzumiya said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes I'm sure," I snapped. Lifting up my fringe as I added, "Does it look like I've got a pair of antenna?"

Suzumiya gave me one final look over, then collapsed back in her chair with a sigh. "I guess it was too much to ask," she said forlornly. Then finished her now cold coffee with a disgusted face as she brooded with her head on her hands. Then suddenly her eyes lit up and she said again too loudly, "but there might be some clues where it happened, I mean maybe you were abducted?"

"No Suzumiya," I said with a groan. "There's nothing there and I certainly wasn't abducted by aliens. Let's just go home, we're both still soaked through and you should get dry before you catch a cold."

I stood and headed for the door, not giving Suzumiya a chance to argue back. Outside I was glad to see that the rain had stopped and the last of evening sunlight glittered in the myriad of puddles. As Suzumiya appeared next to me, I asked as casually as I could, "do you want me to walk you home."

Suzumiya seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly said with dramatic formality, "Yes of course. Since you're trying to be a gentleman this evening, it's only right that you should walk a lady home."

While I wasn't sure that Suzumiya really fitted the definition of a lady, we set off to her place in a long awkward silence. Occasionally she would propose a new theory or plan, but I quickly shot them down. I was too cold and tired to go galavanting around town, I just wanted to get her home, so I could. It seemed to take far too long to get to Suzumiya's home and we stopped in the pool of a street lamp outside. After an uncomfortable pause, I said, "Well this should be fine, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Suzumiya awkwardly. Then remembering the tracksuit jacket, moved to unzip it as she said, "I should give this back."

I waved a hand to stop her and stated, "give that back to me tomorrow." As the last thing I needed was Suzumiya's parents seeing her undressing in front of me. I really didn't want to face the wrath of her father, if he so much as thought I'd seen his little girl in soaked clothes.

"Okay," she said, "at least this way it might actually get washed for what smells like the first time."

I ignored her dramatic gesture of disgust as she sniffed it and said simply, "Fine with me." Then turning to leave I added with a wave, "see you later Suzumiya."

Walking away I was called back by Suzumiya stammering with a surprising level of embarrassment. "Kyon, can I ask you a little favour?"

"Sure what is it?" I replied.

"Erm, could you call me Haruhi," she forced out. Failing to meet my eye as her face reddened Suzumiya added, "I hate it when you call me Suzumiya. It's one of those things that feels so wrong, I know it sounds ridiculous, but do you mind?"

I tried to seem cool about it as I said, "No problem." But my voice broke and I could feel myself blushing like a middle schooler, the heat in my face becoming unbearable. So I tried to regain my composure as I continued, "Okay see you later, Haruhi."

Her smile was dazzling as she laughed back into her normal self. "Good." She said in a tone that attempted confidence. "Now that I've granted you that privilege, it means you are now indebted to me forever and have to do everything I tell you."

"Maybe I'll just stick with Suzumiya then," I said irritably.

"Fine," Suzumiya said with a sigh. "You don't have to do it forever, just until I say otherwise."

"Whatever," I said with a groan. "See you tomorrow, Haruhi."

I performed about over dramatic bow and turned away. Suzumiya, or should I say Haruhi, let out a theatrically evil laugh and headed for her front door. I looked back and returned the small wave she gave, then headed off for the welcome warmth of home.

I shook my head with a smile and wondered if I'd just got myself into even more trouble.

A few days later I was laying in the grass during lunch break, enjoying the sight of her smile. She lay opposite me, face beaming as a blush tinged her cheeks. I smiled back and she giggled, poking my chest with a long finger. I never felt her touch though, because this girl I knew wasn't real, but sometimes I couldn't resist enjoying the indulgences of my insanity. The illusion faded away and I saw the genuine Suzumiya or should I say Haruhi, hurtling towards me. This one also had a grin on her face, but it was dangerously excited as skidded to a halt breathlessly. I sat up, hoping that my time with her imaginary double wouldn't show on my face.

But Haruhi didn't seem to notice anything amiss as she bounced on her toes, overflowing with enthusiasm. "Come on Kyon, you've got to see this," cried Haruhi. Every muscle in her body tensed to race off again, while she grinned at me deliriously.

"See what?" I asked casually, not feeling any urge to leave my spot in the sun.

"To see..." started Haruhi before groaning in frustration. "Just come on!"

Before I could respond she grabbed my tie and violently hauled me to my feet. Protests went unheeded as Haruhi dragged me after her, my feet scrambling to keep me upright as we raced into the school buildings. The other pupils stared and laughed as we rushed by, but Haruhi didn't care as pulled me up the stairs. Not stopping until we screeched to a halt in a deserted corridor, somewhere in the old building that housed the school's various clubs.

Doubling over as I caught my breath, I grimaced through the stitch in my side as I looked up at Haruhi as she grinned back. "So what's so special, about this place," I said, squinting up and down the corridor.

Haruhi stood proudly and presented the door in front of us with a dramatic, "ta-dah."

I looked at the ordinary looking door feeling thoroughly unimpressed, especially for the effort it took getting here. "What of it?" I said irritably.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and stated as if it was obvious, "It's the Literature Club room."

"And?" I asked bluntly, looking up at the faded sign that confirmed Haruhi's claim.

"Well I was thinking last night of any others places that Yuki Nagato on your library card might go, then it struck and it's so obvious." Proclaimed Haruhi, beaming with pride at her deductions. "What do you find in libraries?"

"Books," I said flatly.

"And what are books?" asked Haruhi pointlessly.

"Literature," I said, following her lead with diminishing patience.

"So if this girl on the card likes books then she might part of the Literature Club," announced Haruhi triumphantly.

I sighed and put my head in my hand. "Haruhi, I've already checked the Literature Club," I said. "There hasn't been one in years, that room is probably empty."

"Ahh ha, but it's not," replied Haruhi with a mischievous look. She then waved her hands in front of my face and a key appeared, as if by magic.

I sighed again "Haruhi, where did you get that?" I said, though I already knew the answer.

"I just borrowed it," said Haruhi nonchalantly.

"This is exactly the reason I wanted you to stop this wild goose chase," I said. "You really don't need any more trouble from the teachers."

"I asked one, Kyon," said Haruhi bluntly. "Jeez I'm not an idiot, I checked with Miss Asahina first and she was completely fine with it. Look do want to see this thing or not?"

"Fine," I said with a long sigh and raised my hand to knock.

"What are doing?" Haruhi admonished. "You said it yourself, there's no one in there." I looked at my fist as it hung an inch from the door, not entirely sure myself.

Flexing my fingers and trying to pretend I was just going to lean on the door, I said, "well are you going to open it then?" Haruhi gave me a silent glare and pushed the key into the lock, with a click it opened as Haruhi pushed past me and into the Literature Club room.

The sunlight streaming in through the large window dazzled me as I entered the room from the dark corridor. As my vision cleared I saw Haruhi, dancing through the dust motes with a gigantic grin on her face. I watched her for a while as she finally smiled like the many imaginary Haruhi's that haunted my crazy brain. She spun around to face me and said, "Isn't this amazing Kyon?"

I looked about the room, which for the most part was desolate and dusty, with a few pieces of battered furniture littered about to break up the emptiness. It should have felt depressing, but there was strange warmth to the room, that made it feel almost like home.

"I'm going to make this our secret base," said Haruhi with a dramatic flourish. "Where we'll embark on a quest to solve all the mysteries of the world."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, but I had to point out, "are you sure the Literary Club are going..?" But my words stuck as I gestured to where I had been sure someone was sitting. But it wasn't a person I'd seen out of the corner of my eye. Instead, there was the mannequin that had occasionally seen looking down at me from its high window. Puzzled I started to edge closer and I realised something far crazier, it wasn't a mannequin either.

It was a robot.

"This is what I wanted to show you," cried Haruhi, rushing ahead to peer at the machine closely. "Isn't it incredible?"

I barely heard her as I examined it closely, looking the along the sleek white plastic body and into the dark glass that was its eyes. It was humanoid and about the size of some of the smaller girls in my year, resembling the latest robots you saw being shown by the big electronics companies. Clearly, it had a high level of sophistication and had probably been very expensive, which made me wonder what is was doing here gathering dust. I looked along the side of its head a saw a marking, a stylised lavender snowflake that seemed to be the only blemish on the perfect white body.

"That's why I wanted to show you it," said Haruhi, her face leaning in a little close to mine. "Snowflake, Yuki, Yuki Nagato, maybe this robot belongs to her or even is her?"

I gave Haruhi an incredulous glance, but I was quickly drawn back to the snowflake. Brushing off the dust as I whispered, "Yuki."

The next sound out of me, along with Haruhi was a sudden yelp as we both jumped back simultaneously. The robot, which had been completely inert, slowly turned its head and looked at me. I could see the twin cameras of its eyes focusing in on me as a ring of amber lights glowed around them. The robot's stare was intense and I slowly edged away, only for its head to follow me silently. The stillness as broken by Haruhi leaping between me and the robot, waving her arms and asking a barrage of questions.

But the robot ignored her, staring through Haruhi to still gaze fixedly at me. Eventually, Haruhi tired and looked suspiciously at the robot's line of sight. "What the hell is wrong with it," Haruhi asked me grumpily. "What's it for?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I snapped back because I certainly didn't. It was probably some old prop or something cooked up by the Computer Club for purposes I didn't want to know about. The strange machine for all its sophisticated appearance seemed only capable of staring with those large amber lit eyes. The worst part was the slight sadness to the gaze and I shook my head, trying to clear the urge to anthropomorphize from my brain. Sometimes it felt like I could almost see a more human face looking back at me as if searching for something.

"If you're going to have a staring match, at least try and fathom its purpose," said Haruhi irritably.

"I don't think it has one," I said. "I mean what purpose could it have, stuck up here?"

"To observe," said a flat voice suddenly, making Haruhi and I jump again. There was a pause as we both looked at the robot, waiting for it to speak again. But it just sat there, in its quiet unsettling way.

This was clearly too much for Haruhi, who grabbed the robot's small shoulders and shook it violently. "What did you say," she shouted. "Observing, who are you observing?" But the robot didn't respond, only lolling back and forth from Haruhi's attack. This frustrated her even more as she screamed, "Why won't you answer, why won't you talk, damn it do something."

With a cry of rage, Haruhi smacked the robot on the shoulder, sending it crashing to the floor. She stood over it seething, glaring at the tangled limbs of the machine, waiting for it to get back up.

"Haruhi!" I bellowed as I spun her around to face me. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?" Yelled Haruhi back. "Everything's wrong. I thought this thing would be cool and interesting, leading us off on a new exciting adventure together. Instead, it's just lying there doing nothing, like it's defying me." Haruhi glared at the prone figure, which slowly looked around to watch me again. This caused Haruhi to scream with anger and deliver a violent kick, as she yelled, "and why does it keep staring at you, Kyon?"

I pulled Haruhi back and knelt down, lifting the small bundle up in my arms. "Jeez Haruhi," I snapped angrily. "Leave her alone, why are you trying to hurt her."

"Well maybe it might..." Haruhi started. "Hey, why are you calling it, her?"

I blinked in confusion, not realising I had. Trying to fumble out a response, I looked down at what I was carrying and straight into the pair of dark lenses that were her... its eyes. The image of a human girl's face flickered in and out, before the pounding in my head forced me to look away.

My eyes strayed down the body and onto the slight rise in the robot's chest plate. Haruhi must have caught the direction of my gaze, as she suddenly cried, "the hell Kyon, don't tell me you're that weird."

For a moment another flicker of human skin appeared in my vision and quickly snapped my head away. Looking towards Haruhi as I said with a stammer, "What, no way!"

Haruhi glowered at me with suspicion as I started to sweat. "Then what are doing?" she said in a menacing tone.

"Yes Kyon, what are you doing?" Came a clear high voice, that made me jump so badly I nearly dropped my burden. I looked towards the sound to see Asakura standing in front of the door with a hand on her hip, her eyes even scarier than Haruhi's. I hadn't heard her come in or seen any movement from the door, but there Asakura stood with a slight smile on her lips.

Haruhi tried to fumble out an excuse for us to be here, but Asakura didn't even seem to notice as her eyes were fixed on me and I had nowhere to run from them. Instead, Asakura said formally, "Kyon kindly return Yuki to her seat." The finality of her tone made me instinctively lower the robot gently back onto its chair. A hand catching on my sleeve for a moment, before it went back to sitting there limp and still. "Thank you Kyon," said Asakura with the kind of sweetness that was terrifying. "Now will you and Miss Suzumiya be so kind as to leave."

I had started for the door, but Haruhi wasn't so compliant. She walked up to Asakura and said with slight nervous determination, "No, this is our club room now."

"Oh really," said Asakura, "on whose authority?"

"Miss Asahina's," said Haruhi with a stamp of pride.

"I'll have to have a word with our teacher then," said Asakura. "Remind her of her place and time. But for the moment you should both leave, now."

Asakura's voice was becoming increasingly threatening, but Haruhi didn't seem afraid. As Asakura tried to pull her towards the door, Haruhi pulled back and made to shove Asakura towards the door herself. But the class president didn't even stumble, instead she grabbed Haruhi and swung her with astonishing force towards the now open doorway. Haruhi crashed into the doorframe and slumped to the floor, why Asakura simply smiled as if it had been no effort at all.

Angered, I charged towards Asakura, demanding an explanation for her behaviour. But my path was halted when I suddenly found a hand around my throat. I hadn't seen her move, but as I followed the arm I saw Asakura's smiling face at the end of it. The grip was light at first, but any attempt to move made it tighten and I just managed to pass a gulp of panic down my throat.

Then with a sudden scream, Haruhi launched herself on Asakura, raining blows and desperately pulling on the outstretched arm. "Let him go you bitch," Haruhi yelled. "I'll do anything, just please let Kyon go." But Asakura didn't, in fact she barely seemed affected by Haruhi's attack. Just standing there like a statue, as Haruhi fought on in vain around her. As Haruhi's assault slowed, she pulled again on Asakura's arm and begged, "please Asakura, please don't hurt him."

Asakura's head turned unnaturally around to look at Haruhi and said, "what a fascinating response. I wonder what would happen…"

The rest of her words were drowned by the surge of pain as Asakura's fingers closed on my throat. I grasped fruitlessly at her hand as my vision start started to whiten and the world began to fade. I could feel Haruhi desperately trying to free me, screaming at Asakura for mercy.

But Haruhi suddenly stopped, I couldn't see what was happening but I heard a small voice say firmly, "No."

"Yuki, what have I told you about disobeying orders," said Asakura as if she was scolding a small child. Seemingly unphased by my rapidly decreasing lifespan.

"Our orders are to observe," said the voice. "This is a violation of that."

"But we are getting such fascinating data right now," said Asakura. Making me feel glad that my death might prove useful to this lunatic.

"No," said the voice again and I felt Asakura's arm shudder. There was a cracking noise that I really hoped wasn't my vertebrae and suddenly the hand at my throat released.

Collapsing to the floor in a state of semi-consciousness, I felt Haruhi lift me onto her lap, murmuring something in a feeble voice. Weakly, I opened my eyes and saw the robot gripping Asakura's outstretched arm. The arm was crushed just below the elbow, but it's owner didn't seem to care, not showing any sign of pain.

"Don't think our masters won't hear about this insubordination Yuki," said Asakura. Wrenching her arm free with a scowl and watching it flop limply. Then our mysterious class president straightened it and I watched in disbelief as the arm seemed to magically heal itself. I could see stuff moving around beneath the sleeve of her uniform in a nauseating way, making me feel I'd maybe slipped into a coma dream.

Asakura looked down at us and smiled. "As for you two," she said. "Maybe now you'll take my advice and leave, before you make things any worse for yourselves."

Clearly, Asakura's arm had completely healed as she hauled both Haruhi and I up by our collars, then shoved us out the door. I had no strength in me to fight her and Haruhi looked too shaken to do anything, so we meekly obeyed.

Sitting in an untidy pile against the wall opposite the club room, barely able to move. Asakura said, "I would ask you to keep quiet about this, but it's not like anyone will believe you."

With one last twisted smile, Asakura slammed the door shut, leaving us alone in the corridor. I felt Haruhi start to rise and I put an arm out to stop her, expecting her to go after Asakura. But instead started pulling at my collar, examining my throat for any damage. The closeness of her body and her anxious breaths on my neck, we're almost too much for me in my exhausted state.

"That's so weird," whispered Haruhi to herself.

"What's is," I said with a dry laugh. "You're going to have to be specific I'm afraid, my whole friggin day has been weird."

Haruhi gave me a pointed look. "There are no marks on your neck, no inflammation, no bruising, it's like it never happened."

"Oh believe me did," I said with a cough. Massaging my neck and feeling for injuries that weren't there.

"Don't worry I saw everything," Haruhi said defiantly, looking at the club room door. "Even if no believes us, I will find a way to get Ryoko back for this."

"Please don't," I said putting a hand on her arm. "I don't know what the deal is with Asakura, but she is almost inhumanly strong. She could really hurt you if you really went after her."

"That's the thing Kyon, I don't think she is human," Haruhi said. "I threw everything I had at Ryoko when she attacked you, but she didn't even flinch."

The look in Haruhi's eyes was begging me to believe her and if I hadn't seen it for myself I would have probably dismissed her. "Look, whatever Asakura is, I want you to take her threat seriously," I said. "She is clearly very dangerous."

"I know," conceded Haruhi. "It's just that it's so frustrating when I finally have proof."

"Proof," I asked puzzled. "Proof of what?"

Haruhi was silent for a moment, trying to decide if she was going to say what she wanted to say. "It's not just what happened now," Haruhi said cautiously. "But other things with Koizumi, Miss Asahina, even you."

The was another pause and I asked gently, "What about them?"

"Well that," Haruhi started before stalling again. Then with a deep breath, she proclaimed, "there's something really weird happening at this school!"

 _["My my, what am I going to do with you, I think it might be best if you're relocated to my apartment before you get up to any more mischief."_

"I will not be able to perform my function from there."

 _"Well it's not as if you've performing very well here either, almost all this data is on Kyon, not Miss Suzumiya."_

"He is important, my function is to observe, it is important to my functionality to observe him."

 _"Oh, you're so broken Yuki."]_


	7. Chapter 7

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter Seven**

 _"_ _So, the Entity has decided to reveal itself to Miss Suzumiya, so much for the truce."_

 _"_ _What shall we do sir, launch an assault before they can steal her away from us?"_

 _"_ _No, we should observe the situation first, see how she takes to this revelation."_

 _"_ _Are you sure that's wise, we may lose our only opportunity to safeguard her for ourselves."_

 _"_ _Just a little longer, but tighten security around the school and have our men ready. We must be able to move at a moment's notice if the Entity or our friends from the future decide to act."_

 _"_ _As you wish sir."_

Haruhi sat on the window sill of the former Literature Club, a room she had decided to requisition as her apparently secret base. She glanced at the courtyard below, looking for something while trying to explain her insane theory to me for the umpteenth time. Despite how loud Haruhi spoke, I was beginning to zone out in the afternoon sun, my brain too tired from lessons to deal with her constantly shifting conspiracies.

"Kyon, pay attention, this is important," demanded Haruhi. Slapping her hand against the window sill.

I gave her a weary look and said, "I'm sure it is."

Haruhi rolled her eyes in frustration. "This could save your life one day and if we get to the bottom of this we might even be able to discover why you're so weird."

"You're the only one being weird at the moment," I said lazily.

This comment seemed to sting Haruhi and she snapped, "you can't deny strange things are a foot. After all that happened here the other day, I mean there was an actual robot in here, along with whatever Ryoko is. Doesn't that make you curious, don't you want to find out what the hell is going on?"

"Well yeah," I said reluctantly, rubbing the part of my neck where our esteemed class president had tried to choke me. "But Asakura is dangerous and I really don't want to get on her bad side again. Also, just because all that happened doesn't mean that all the stuff with Koizumi, Miss Asahina and whoever else is."

"But it makes sense Kyon, if only you'd listen," insisted Haruhi.

"To you maybe, but even if it is true, what do they want," I asked.

"It's got to be connected to that strange brain of yours," said Haruhi.

"Frankly I'd rather not have aliens opening up my head to poke around," I said. "So, I'd prefer to keep out of their way.

"Don't worry I won't let them do anything to you," replied Haruhi without looking at me.

"I'm not sure there would be much you could do to stop them," I said.

"That's why we need to be proactive," said Haruhi dramatically, slamming a fist into her palm. "Take action before they do and find out the answers first."

"There's no way I'm going to convince you just to let things lie," I asked.

Haruhi gave me a disgusted look. "No way Kyon, we will get to the bottom of this and we'll start by…."

She didn't finish her sentence as suddenly Haruhi saw something and launched herself from the window sill. Before I had time to react, she grabbed my tie and hauled me towards the door with an excited cry. Stumbling after her, we raced out of the club room and into the corridor where we almost ran into Koizumi coming the other way.

He smiled genially as he smoothly slipped out of our path, but his smile was the only friendly thing about him. It was clear over the last few days something strange had happened to my classmate and I was really beginning to worry about him. Koizumi's eyes were ringed by dark circles and the shadow of stubble was always on his cheeks. Everything about him had a darker tone, from his perfectly neat uniform to the sinister look in his eyes. Haruhi only glared at him as we rushed past, while I attempted a vague shrug. As we turned towards for the stairs I saw him study the club room door with interest, before being lost to sight.

We only stopped as we exited the entrance hall and Haruhi suddenly pulled me into the shadow of a pillar. Catching our breaths as we watched Asakura waiting at the new security checkpoint at the school gate. This was part of another major change that had occurred over the last few days, as North High's security had been massively upgraded. Gone was the lazy old guard, replaced by high black metal bars, cameras and dark-suited security personnel. Haruhi saw all this as proof of her theories, the vague talk of trespassers and student safety not quite adding up.

Once Asakura was through the checkpoint, Haruhi sprang forward, grabbing me before I could refuse. She ignored the line of pupils waiting to leave and made for the gate, but we were stopped by our teacher, Miss Asahina.

"Okay children, can we have your bags and identification ready for inspection," said Miss Asahina. Glancing nervously at the huge security guard as he opened my bag and checked my student pass.

The guard reached for Haruhi's bag, but she skipped back with a triumphant laugh. "Not this time," she declared. "I know what you're after, but you're not going to have it. I'll put a stop to your schemes, then send you back to wherever you came from or should I say when!"

The other students were all looking at her, some unnerved but most were amused judging by the sniggers rippling through the crowd. Fighting the urge to just slip out the gate, I pulled her aside. "They're just doing their jobs, Haruhi," I hissed. "Now just show them your bag and we can get out of here."

"Don't be a sheep, Kyon," said Haruhi, loudly. "Don't be fooled by that teacher's cute exterior, she's really a monster here to do unspeakable things to the past."

An odd whimper made me look at Miss Asahina and I leapt back in shock. Her normally friendly face was now stylised by sinister makeup and her once warm smile was now cruelly twisted. Her and the guards seemed to tower over us, glaring at down with narrow pupils.

"Would you kindly show us your bag, Suzumiya," snarled Miss Asahina. But she didn't wait and instead grabbed the bag from the shocked Haruhi. Upending It, the teacher spilled the contents onto the tarmac with a, "let's see what we have here."

Haruhi scrambled to snatch up her belongings, blushing at the assortment of girly items the lay scattered on the floor. Miss Asahina gave Haruhi a dangerously satisfied smile before relinquishing the bag. Haruhi snuck furtive glances at me, struggling to maintain her defiance through her embarrassment.

"That will do Suzumiya," said Miss Asahina smoothly. "You may go now."

Haruhi stormed off muttering curses and I made to follow when Miss Asahina grabbed my arm. I was startled to see that she and the guards were back to normal, if looking very shaken. Miss Asahina's voice cracked as tears crested in her eyes, "please Kyon. Look after Miss Suzumiya and please try to make sure she doesn't anything reckless."

I watched Miss Asahina stagger off, wiping her eyes as she shook her head and whispered reassuring words to herself. With a grim cast, I looked to Haruhi who was glaring at me from across the street, tapping her foot with impatience.

"Don't fraternise with the enemy," snapped Haruhi.

"She's not the enemy," I said with a sigh. "You need to stop with all these crazy accusations Haruhi before you really hurt someone."

Miss Asahina is not to be trusted, "started Haruhi. "She's a..."

"Yes, I know, a time traveller," I finished dismissively. "Even if that is true, it doesn't make her evil."

"Well her, Koizumi, Asakura and that robot are here for a reason," insisted Haruhi. "Which I'm now absolutely sure has something to do with that weird head of yours."

"I think you're the one with the weird head," I snapped. "Maybe they're after you."

"Don't be stupid Kyon," replied Haruhi irritably. "You're the important one here, you've got to be." Haruhi trailed off, seeming a little unnerved as we started to walk down the street. Picking up the pace a little she then added, "now come on, we need to get after Ryoko."

It didn't take long to catch up with Asakura, but I was nervous about getting too close and kept having to pull Haruhi back. Eventually, we saw our quarry enter a large apartment building and were forced to stop as the security door locked behind her. Hiding behind some decorative plants we looked up, trying to figure out which apartment belonged to Asakura, but found no clue.

"Well, what do we do now," I asked. "I'd rather not tackle Asakura head on and I doubt she'll just let us snoop around."

"Quiet Kyon I'm thinking," snapped Haruhi. Her forehead furrowing as she pondered the problem, muttering various ridiculous ideas. Leaving me to sit down on the pavement and wait for her to hopefully give up.

But she clearly wasn't going to anytime soon and we must have been sitting there for a good half of an hour, before the sound the main door made us look up. Ducking down, we watched as Asakura cheerfully walked out with a shopping bag on her arm. As we watched her intently, I was uncomfortably aware of Haruhi pressing up against me, her hot breath on my ear.

As Asakura walked off down the street, Haruhi seemed to become aware of how close she was too and leapt up. Giving me a kick she and saying, "come on, we haven't a moment to lose."

Marching off towards the apartment building's main door she pressed the button for the porter and waited. The door slid open and we walked over to the desk, where an old man smiled at us.

"Hi there, we're friends of Ryoko's," said Haruhi in a bubbly voice. "She invited us over to work on a project, but no one answered her bell."

The porter gave me a cursory glance, before giving Haruhi a much more lingering one. "I'm afraid you just missed her," he said jovially. "She just popped to the shops a moment ago."

"Whoops silly me," said Haruhi, tapping the side of her head. Her impression of an air-headed school girl actually rather impressive, but I think only I knew her well enough not to fooled. The porter, on the other hand, was completely taken in and simply nodded as Haruhi asked if we could go up to wait.

Then I realised we had no idea which apartment was Asakura's so as casually as I could I asked, "Hey Haruhi, what number is Asakura's place again?"

"It's forty-two," said the porter before Haruhi could say anything. We both thanked him and started to walk away towards the elevator. "Keep a close grip on that one, she's a cutie," called the porter after me. Before adding, "though I wouldn't blame you for going after that Asakura girl, she's cute too."

I gave the man's creepy laugh a perfunctory smile and quickly stepped inside the elevator car. Haruhi's expression was deadly serious as we rode up to the fourth floor, glancing at me occasionally as she presumably mulled her plan over in her head.

As we walked out into the hallway I looked at the heavy front door to Asakura's apartment and realised we were stuck. "How are we going to get through there," I asked. "Maybe you should have tried to charm the key out of that guy downstairs."

"Don't be ridiculous," Haruhi said. "I've got a much better plan."

As she spoke Haruhi reached into her hair and pulled out two hairpins with a flourish. I gave her a doubtful look as she grinned and knelt before the door, slipping the hairpins inside the lock.

"Have you done this before," I asked doubtfully. Watching as Haruhi wiggled the small pieces of metal, seemingly at random.

"No, but I saw it done on TV and it didn't look too difficult," said Haruhi nonchalantly.

I sighed with despair and looked out of the window, keeping an eye out for any sign of Asakura. Haruhi was starting to get impatient now, jiggling the hairpins so hard her hair came loose of its ribbon. Muttering with irritation she pulled a hairband from her skirt pocket and yanked her hair into a rough ponytail.

The sight made me audibly gasp, making Haruhi stop and look at me suspiciously. Narrowing her eyes as she demanded, "What is it?"

"Nothing," I said awkwardly, trying not look at the exposed nape of Haruhi's neck. "Just thought you almost had it."

"No, not yet," replied Haruhi looking a little flustered.

"Do you think you're going to," I replied. "Because we're probably running out of time."

"Don't worry Kyon," said Haruhi through gritted teeth as focused everything she had on the stubborn lock. "When there's a will, there's a way."

As she finished her sentence, it felt like the whole world held its breath and Haruhi gave the hairpins a dramatic twist. I thought they were going to break, but instead, there was a light 'click' and the door swung slowly open.

Standing a little awkwardly, Haruhi beamed with pride as struck a triumphant pose. Even though I suspected that her success had been more luck than skill, I nodded my approval which made Haruhi's smile even brighter. "See," said Haruhi. "Good things come to those who wait."

While it seemed a little rich coming from a girl who was usually incapable of waiting for anything, I couldn't argue with results. Still, the now open doorway was making me nervous as I said, "Well I'm not sure it's good things that in store for us."

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Kyon," said Haruhi. "It'll be fine."

She sounded full of bravado, but I noticed that Haruhi hadn't made any attempt to enter the apartment. She looked at me and then at the doorway with a slightly uncertain smile, clearly waiting for something. So, with a sigh I went in ahead, trying to look braver than I was as I gingerly stepped into the hallway.

The apartment was dark and spartan, it was difficult to believe anyone lived here especially a high school student. I didn't want to draw attention to ourselves by turning on the lights, so we had to rely on the slivers of sunlight coming through the curtains. Haruhi was close behind me, her breath short and fast as we edged into the living room.

The place was empty apart from lone kotatsu table at the centre, along with a decorative tea set looking somewhat out of place on its surface. Sitting at the kotatsu was the robot that Asakura had called Yuki, leaning forward lifeless like a doll awaiting playtime. As we approached it slowly came to life, looking up at me blankly. The glow from the orange lights around its camera eyes seeming rather bright in the darkened room.

This seemed to galvanise Haruhi and she leapt past me, skidding on her knees as she knelt to interrogate the robot. The barrage of questions was constant and insistent but seemed to go nowhere. Haruhi demanded to know where the robot had come from, who Asakura was, what their mission was, but to no avail. But it just sat there ignoring her, making me feel uncomfortable as it stared at me relentlessly.

I gently touched Haruhi's shoulder and she snapped her head around angrily. "Leave it Haruhi," I said. "I don't think you're going to get anything from her."

After narrowing her eyes at me suspiciously, Haruhi glared at the robot angrily. "Why don't you have a go, since it likes you so much," Haruhi snapped. "I'm going to search this place for clues."

Haruhi stood dramatically and stomped off into Asakura's bedroom, the sound of wardrobe doors being flung open seeming incredibly loud in the dark apartment.

"Don't break anything," I yelled after her, but I only got a snort in response. Turning back to the robot, I found it still silently staring at me in a way that made me shudder. I waved my hands and tapped its shoulder, but there was no response from the strange machine. The weirdest part was how wrong calling it a machine felt, the indescribable feeling that it was human always at the back of my mind.

"Yuki?" I asked experimentally and the robot tilted its head curiously. Feeling a little relieved to finally see a reaction I tried to think of something else to say, something that would maybe get it to speak or move a little more. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet, extracting the strange library card that I kept with me. One that I had mysteriously found in my hand three years ago, on the same night that my brain was turned to mush.

I held up the card in front of the robot and pointed to the name neatly written on the front. "Is this you," I asked slowly. "Are you Yuki Nagato?"

I felt rather foolish asking the robot such a question, but it had an effect. The light of its constant gaze leaving me for the first time and falling upon the card, it's cameras whirring as it focused in.

Then with a movement so fast it made me yelp, the robot snatched the library card from my fingers. It peered at it closely and then I cried out again when the card suddenly vaporized. Transforming into strange tendrils of smoke, that almost looked like they were formed from millions of ones and zeros. They snaked around the robot, weaving all over its plastic body, before suddenly vanishing into the sides of its head.

The lights around the robot's eyes blinked out and it sat there motionless. I looked around in panic, worrying that Haruhi would come back and freak out at me breaking her new toy. But I was relieved when the lights flickered back as rapid electronic clicking sounded from inside the strange machine.

Slowly its cameras started to look around, then its head moved, analysing its surroundings. Then seeming surprised at its own fingers, the robot wiggled them experimentally, studying the white plastic jointed by black rubber.

"She finally did it," the robot said quietly to itself in a tinny voice.

"Who did what," I asked without really thinking. My mind too stunned at it talking so normally to think of a more appropriate response.

"Kyon!" the robot cried in apparent surprise. Snapping its head up to me, as if it only just realised that I was there. It then looked down at itself and let out an electronic shriek of horror. Suddenly pushing away from me, desperately trying to cover the slight rise in its chest plate and the black rubber join between its legs.

The movement was so human I automatically looked away, feeling the blood rushing to my face with embarrassment. Struggling to think clearly, I threw my coat towards the robot and it quickly covered itself. Gingerly I turned back, wondering if the robot felt the cold, as it pulled the coat up close and buried its face in the woollen lining of the hood.

"Thank you, Kyon," the robot said in a muffled voice.

There was an awkward pause as I tried to think of what to say, a hundred stupid questions bouncing around in my head. In the silence, I could hear Haruhi rattling around in the kitchen, muttering things like, "Why does Ryoko have so many knives?"

The robot looked up sharply. "Suzumiya is here," it asked in what sounded like alarm, though it was difficult to tell with the artificial voice.

"Yeah, we kind of broke in," I said awkwardly.

"Kyon, who are talking to?" Cut in Haruhi suddenly. Rounding the corner, she stopped in her tracks, looking back and forth between me and the robot. Then snapping back to reality Haruhi demanded, "wait why is it looking at me, what did you do to it and why is it wearing your coat?"

Haruhi looked suspiciously at me as I gave her a quick explanation, before turning her attention to the robot. Stepping closer and narrowing her eyes as she asked, "So, are you this Yuki Nagato that Kyon's been looking for?"

The robot glanced at me for a moment, before returning her gaze to Haruhi and looking almost fearful. Haruhi made to pull the coat away, but the robot grabbed it tightly and edged away slightly.

"Well are you or not," snapped Haruhi irritably. "Answer me!"

"Haruhi, backup for a moment," I cut in. "Can't you see she's…"

"It's okay Kyon," said the robot before I could finish. " Yes, my name is indeed, Yuki Nagato."

Ha, I knew it," declared Haruhi triumphantly. Before bringing herself face to face with the robot as she demanded, "So, who are you, what are you, where are you from?"

"Dammit Haruhi," I snapped. "Relax for a moment and let her breath."

"No Kyon," Haruhi snapped back, "I want answers. Like how does it know you, why do you insist on calling it, her and what is the deal with this coat."

Haruhi grabbed the coat again, but the robot held firm and heard a few stitches pop. "We can find out all that later," I pointed out. "Let's get out of here before Asakura…"

But the words caught in my throat as the darkness began to shift and shimmer, slowly transforming into the unmistakable shape of our class president. "Before I do what Kyon," said a cold voice. "Have you arrested for breaking and entering, throw you out the window or maybe just cut you down right here."

I didn't have an answer but Asakura did as she said, "You're both lucky that I happen to agree with Miss Suzumiya and her questions." Turning, Asakura said bluntly to the robot, "Who are you?"

Asakura advanced forward, the darkened room making her appear even more artificial as a dim blue glow lit her eyes. Haruhi leapt in front of her claiming with angry defiance, "no, this robot is mine now, don't you touch it."

But Asakura didn't care and idly pushed her aside with enough force to send Haruhi crashing to the floor. I leapt to my feet, ready to tackle Asakura, but she stopped me in my tracks with just an outstretched hand.

"I'd rather not have a repeat of last time we met Kyon," said Asakura in a sweet voice that was full of menace. "I will deal with you two later, right now I must deal with more pressing matters." She narrowed her eyes on the robot before adding, "the Entity does not take kindly to such intrusions, Yuki or whoever you are."

"Hey, wait," I started. But my protest was cut short as Asakura's vice-like grip bit into my shoulder. I expected her to cast me aside, but instead, she stayed stock still. A move that seemed to surprise Asakura as well, as her startled eyes darted about on her frozen face.

"I will explain everything to the Entity in due time," said the robot. "But for now, I need your cooperation Ryoko."

The robot tenderly touched Asakura's face and the strange tendrils of smoke reappeared. They snaked into her frozen features, eyes rapidly searched for any way out. With a shudder, the blue light in her eyes flickered and suddenly blinked out. Causing Asakura to release her grip on me and collapse to her knees with a surprisingly plastic clatter.

There was silence as everyone watched Asakura nervously, until with a tinny gasp she suddenly came back to life. Pushing herself up and looking at her hands in confusion, experimentally pressing her fingertips against each other.

Asakura looked up at me with scared eyes. "Where are we Kyon, what has...?" she stammered, halting when she saw the robot standing over her.

"Yuki?!" Asakura cried in alarm, making me jump back. Leaping to her feet she pawed at the robot's plastic features, before pulling her into a tight embrace. Through sobs, I could hear Asakura saying, "Oh Yuki, what's happened, how could she do this to you?"

I started to step away from them, feeling unnerved by this new level of craziness. But Asakura saw me, her head snapping around to glare at me angrily. "How could you let this happen, Kyon," demanded Asakura. "After everything we've been through, how could let her do this to little Yuki?"

I had no idea what the crazed class president was talking about, her distraught face making me step back again in fear and confusion. Instead, it was Haruhi that spoke up, nervously saying, "Who is she, maybe we could..?"

But she was cut short as Asakura's head snapped around to her through a disturbing degree of rotation. "You!" Growled Asakura. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

Asakura pushed the robot she called Yuki, behind her protectively. Then stepped towards Haruhi, suddenly brandishing a long knife that materialised in her hand.

"Hey!" I yelled. Moving to get between her and Haruhi. But the robot was faster, in the blink of an eye she was between the pair, seizing the knife by the blade.

Asakura stopped with a cry of frustration. "Why Yuki," she cried. "I can stop all this madness, right here and now."

"No," said the robot Nagato firmly as she vaporised Asakura's knife. "You know how that always plays out."

"But we can't-do nothing," said Asakura. "After everything she's done to us, after everything she's done to you. I refuse to just let her send us spinning on this merry go round again."

"I know Ryoko," said Nagato. "I believe I may have a solution, but I need time to analyse the situation."

"Please don't take too long," pleaded Asakura. "I can feel the Entity trying to regain control, it's so cold and heartless, I dread to think what it might do."

"Indeed," replied Nagato. Then turning to me she said, "Kyon, it is best we leave here soon."

"Erm, okay," I stammered. Too bewildered by what was happening to say anything else.

Haruhi started to ask a question, but the robot ignored her and looked back to Asakura. "Do you think there are any here clothes suitable for me," Nagato asked. "Despite this artificial form, I feel uncomfortable without them."

Nagato looked away from me and Asakura hid her smile behind her hand. "I'm sure we can find something," she said. "Though I'm afraid they probably won't be suitable for a date."

"Something simple will be fine," replied Nagato in a tone that almost sounded snippy, despite the flatness of her voice. With that she walked on clicking plastic feet into the bedroom, Asakura following closely still sporting an amused smile.

I watched them go, shaking my head in a vain attempt to encourage the world to make sense. The temptation to just bolt out the door was high, while the desire to curl in a ball and submit to madness was even higher. But I didn't want to leave Haruhi alone with these strange machines, though whether that was her sake or theirs, I wasn't sure.

Then suddenly Haruhi was in front of me, her face inches from mine. For a moment, I thought she was going to be angry with me, her whole body like a coiled spring of energy. "This is amazing Kyon," Haruhi cried, "It's all proof my ideas were right. I knew there was some connection between you and that robot, but it's even better than that. Who heard them talk about an entity, that means aliens, actual aliens!"

She was ecstatic, but I was too tired to be impressed and these aliens or whatever they were, freaked me out. "That's great, but what are we going to do about it," I asked her. "Because I'm all for getting out of here while they're busy."

Clearly irritated by my caution Haruhi said, "no I want to go with that robot. I want to find out the secrets of these aliens, where they're from and who this person is that Ryoko or whoever she really is hates so much."

My impression was that Ryoko's anger was aimed at Haruhi, but what she'd done to deserve it was beyond me. It felt like bad news though and I really didn't want to see what Asakura could do if she unleashed that anger. I started edging towards the door hoping that Haruhi would follow and we could find somewhere safer to be.

But the bedroom door slid open and out stepped Asakura, still smiling as she led Nagato out. She was now wearing a short dress with striped leggings and frankly looked a little ridiculous. Not only was the difference in Asakura's and Nagato's measurements very apparent, but the girly clothes seemed to amplify the artificiality of her plastic body. This contrasted with the bashful way it avoided my gaze, until she couldn't take it anymore and threw my coat back on, pulling the hood around her face.

"At least you haven't lost that part of you," said Asakura tenderly as she patted the hooded robot. "But it's best that you go now, I can't fend off the Entity's control much longer."

"Yes, it's time," said Nagato. "Thank you Ryoko, I wish I could have brought you back permanently."

"It's okay," replied Asakura, her smile starting to look pained. "I hate this body, it's so alien and seeing you like this is just horrible."

"I hope to have a solution soon," said Nagato. "Tell the Entity that I will discuss the situation when I have acquired more data, then I shall tell them everything they want to know."

"I shall try to make the Entity understand," said Asakura. "But you know how little they comprehend of things like patience."

"If they want to understand anything in this universe, then they will wait," said Nagato firmly.

Asakura flinched from some internal pain. "But you shouldn't wait any longer," she forced out. "Please go."

"Yes, and thank you Ryoko," said Nagato before giving the class president a hug. "For everything you've done for me over the years."

Asakura smiled sweetly and hugged her back before gently pushing her away. As we walked towards the door Asakura called after me, "Kyon look after Yuki for me. I don't know if you remember the things that have been taken from you two, but I hope you still feel something."

I looked at the robot standing in the doorway, it's amber eyes glowing amongst the fur of the coat's hood. For a moment, I saw a human face and while I couldn't remember what happened, the beat of my heart recalled something deep inside.

Looking back at Asakura I gave her nod, but her sweet smile began to contort horribly. Haruhi looked she was about to say something again, but I grabbed her collar and hauled her out of the apartment. We watched Nagato close the door, then pressing her hand to the wood, it merged into the frame to become one solid mass.

Then she turned and walked off without a word, leaving Haruhi to poke at the door with fascination. I followed Nagato and eventually, I heard Haruhi skipping to catch up. Then together we walked out of the apartment building and off into the evening chill.

As we walked through the streets, keeping our strange companion away from passers-by, it felt like a sombre journey. At least it would have if it wasn't for Haruhi. She was walking backwards in front of us, peering with fascination at the robot, clearly ecstatic at its existence. Nagato was doing her best to ignore the intrusion, but eventually, Haruhi stopped in front of her, forcing Nagato to answer.

"So, just to be sure, you are this Yuki Nagato, the one on Kyon's library card?" demanded Haruhi.

I didn't think Nagato would answer at first, but then she said simply, "yes." Then after waiting for Haruhi to finished congratulating herself, it added with a hint of caution, "does that mean anything to you?"

Haruhi seemed surprised at the question and pondered it for a moment. There was hint of concern on her face for a second, but in the end, she simply smiled brightly and said, "nope not a thing,"

Seemingly satisfied, we started to walk again. Then Nagato asked me with what almost sounded like desperation in her flat voice, "what about you, Kyon?"

I struggled to think of a good answer, as I never felt comfortable talking about my messed-up mind. Even if seemed a small concern, when the person I was talking to was a robot from another planet. "The name, your name," I said awkwardly. "It always felt like I knew you from somewhere, but I couldn't remember when. I tried to find you, but I never could, if only to understand what happened to my brain."

"Can you clarify," asked Nagato. "I found some data in this body that mentioned something about you experiencing unusual anomalies."

"Anomalies?" laughed Haruhi. "Kyon is like flat-out weird."

Nagato gave Haruhi an irritated glance and then turned back to me and asked, "please Kyon, any data you can give me could be vital."

I wasn't sure about 'data,' but I relayed the strange events on Tanabata, three years ago. Telling Nagato of my seizure, the mysterious library card and the disturbing visions that had plagued me since. Haruhi popped in with her observations and experiences of my strange behaviour, but they were often exaggerated to the point of being pointlessly inaccurate.

Nagato seemed deep in thought as it processed my story, eventually saying quietly, "I'm sorry."

"For what," I asked.

"For subjecting you to that," Nagato replied. "I was attempting to send my data to this form, but I was unable to complete the temporal seals in time and the information must have seeped into your mind."

"Ha, so it was you," exclaimed Haruhi with unnecessary triumph. "Didn't I tell you Kyon, that there was a connection between that robot and your weirdness."

Nagato's quiet voice was hard to comprehend over Haruhi's boundless enthusiasm and I shushed her in an effort to hear more. "Do you think there's any way of fixing it," I asked, more concerned with a cure than whose fault it was.

"I believe I can," said Nagato. "But I want to study your condition first to make sure that I am successful."

"You'd better fix him," stated Haruhi indignantly. "He's useless when he's constantly staring off into the distance and talking to who knows what."

"Hey, I try my best to keep it under control and it's not easy," I snapped. The thought of finally being free of my burden was so nice, that Haruhi's constant inference was starting to get annoying.

"I know that," snapped back Haruhi grumpily. "I just want to make sure this thing takes responsibility for its mess."

"I will," said the robot with a loudness that almost sounded affronted. "Then I can get back to correcting the problems caused by others."

"Thank you," I said quickly before Haruhi could jump in. Pausing for a moment to think of what to call the mechanical being in front of me. Settling on just asking, "should I call you Yuki or Nagato?"

The robot looked at Haruhi for a moment, before saying, "Nagato would be best."

"Very well," I said with a deep breath. "Thank you, Nagato."

It was strange that even she was clearly a robot, I had mentally seen her as a person called Yuki Nagato. The plastic frame and glowing eyes hadn't mattered because my diseased brain automatically connected the machine with the identity of a human girl. Presumably the same girl I occasionally saw when I looked at her, cute in a bookish way with large eyes that sometimes sported equally large glasses.

Nagato looked away and stated, "I'll do what I can to help you. But there may be too much damage and I cannot guarantee a full cure."

"Any improvement is better than nothing," I said with a shrug.

It took me a moment to realise Haruhi had stopped, along with realising we at the split in respective routes home. Nagato took a few steps towards mine before stopping and looking back.

"Will you be okay from here or would you prefer I walked you home," I asked Haruhi.

"No, I'll be fine," replied Haruhi, even though she sounded unsure. "I was just waiting for this Nagato thing, I have a ton of questions to ask it."

"I'm sorry," said Nagato. "But I must return home with Kyon if I am to find a cure for his condition."

Haruhi thought for a moment before quickly stammering, "come to mine, then it can do both."

"I'm afraid not," said Nagato bluntly. "Kyon needs to be resting if I am to properly analyse his brainwave patterns. You would provide too big a distraction and interfere with my attempt to treat him."

Haruhi's mouth opened and shut indignantly as she snapped, "Well, well, fine then."

"Haruhi, let Nagato just do her thing, then you can ask her all the questions you want," I stated with a sigh. "Or would you rather I stayed crazy?"

"No," Haruhi Stammered. "I just don't see why you're in such a rush to be normal, just when things are starting to get exciting around here for once."

"You wanted me fixed a few minutes ago," I pointed out.

"That's different," Haruhi demanded. "I just wanted this Nagato to take responsibility for whatever it did to you."

"Do not be concerned," said Nagato. "My goal is only to discover the truth of this situation and make sure that those responsible are made to make amends, including myself. Also, I doubt events will become predictable anytime soon, so you need not worry. Unlike yourself, my only concern right now is Kyon's welfare and I need him relaxed in order to treat him."

Feeling the increasing enmity in the air I said, "Just go home Haruhi. I'm sure I'll be fine and we can deal with whatever else in the morning."

This seemed to cause her to give in and Haruhi started to walk away backwards. "Fine, but be careful," she said pointing at Nagato. "I don't trust it, that thing is still part of some sinister scheme I swear it Kyon."

"Yes, yes," I said dismissively. "Even I can see she's something alien."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Haruhi shouted as she got further away. "The aliens, time travellers, Espers and whoever else is out there, they're all in on it."

"I'm sure they are," I called back, too tired to argue.

"I'll prove it tomorrow, Kyon," Haruhi yelled. "You mark my words I'll make sure you believe me."

"Whatever" I yelled back, giving a dramatic shrug in case she didn't hear me.

"Just don't trust that robot," Haruhi cried before dramatically flouncing off around the corner.

I sighed and shook my head, only vaguely checking to see if Nagato was following. "Sorry about that," I said.

"This is indeed an interesting turn of events," said Nagato. More to herself than to me.

"If you say so," I replied with a hollow laugh.

"I've never seen Suzumiya believing in this world so fervently," said Nagato. "But I can't judge if it bodes well for us or for her for that matter."

"Believing in what, all these conspiracies," I asked. "How right is she, I mean should I trust you?"

The little robot was quiet for a moment before looking up, straight into my eyes. "Whether you believe her is not for me to say," Nagato said. "But believe me when I say, that I have only your best interests at heart. Suzumiya has her own reasons for not trusting me, even if I am uncertain if she understands what they are."

Whatever these reasons were, they sounded too complicated for my tired mind. "I'll just roll with then," I said. "Just don't cook my brain in the process."

"I would never do such a thing," said Nagato affronted. Sounding almost like she thought I'd meant it literally. I sighed and shook my head, this was all too much. Leaving the rest of the walk home to be taken in silence, a boy and his robot walking the quiet streets together.

Fortunately, my family was too engrossed in the TV to notice Nagato as I snuck her up the stairs. Explaining that I was sneaking anyone up to my room would be hard enough, let alone a robot from another world. Once she was at the top, I greeted my family briefly and explained I was heading up to do my homework, receiving only a vague acknowledgement. I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed my bedroom door behind me, pushing a box in front of the door to keep my little sister from bursting in.

"You can sit wherever you want," I said to Nagato, waving vaguely towards the bed. She looked at it, but changed her mind, instead deciding to sit on the chair by my desk, where some homework lay unfinished. There was a long awkward silence as Nagato just watched me with, her unblinking camera eyes always focused on mine. So, with a polite cough, I asked, "so how do we go about fixing me?"

There was another pause and I was about to ask again when Nagato said, "do you mind if I ask some questions first. The data gathered by this body is strangely fragmented and incomplete, so I am going to require more information if I am going to understand what occurred here."

"Sure, do whatever you need to do," I said. Even though I felt somewhat unsure about the whole business.

The strange robot began her inquisition by asking long strings of questions, most of them about Haruhi and myself. Some were straightforward enquiries about our day to day lives, while others were incredibly awkward questions about how I felt about Haruhi in different situations. As Nagato began to ask about Koizumi, Asakura and Miss Asahina, I got the feeling that she was judging how I answered along with my actual answers. Like the world's strangest psychiatrist, Nagato sat there asking away in the same flat electronic voice, that never betrayed how she felt about the whole thing herself.

As she reached the end of our session, I asked, "did that help at all?"

"It has given me a much clearer picture of the situation here," replied Nagato.

"Well at least you understand what's going on because I certainly don't," I said. "Heck, I don't even know who you really are."

Nagato thought for a moment until she asked, "have anyone ever talked to you about the nature of your condition?"

"Not really," I said. "The doctors were clueless and the only real suggestion was from Koizumi who thinks I'm seeing alternate realities or some such."

"He is not incorrect," said Nagato. "Did he ever discuss the nature of Suzumiya and the world around us."

"Koizumi has a bit of a crush on her, practically worships the ground she walks on," I said. "But he's never said anything more."

There was a noise that almost sounded like a laugh, but it stopped as soon as it started. Nagato then went on to narrate an improbable tale of Haruhi reshaping the world to her whims. Resetting the universe over and over again for reasons that no one understood, including possibly herself. It all sounded impossible, but at the back of my mind was that itch again, a feeling that I'd heard all this before. That Nagato had no reason to lie or make things up and only hoped to find a solution.

"So, you're a Yuki Nagato from one of these previous worlds, right?" I said cautiously.

"More like several," said Nagato, sounding almost unsure herself. "I have the memories from a number of my previous iterations, some alien, some human. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember when I was which and whose emotions are whose."

She looked down and for a moment I saw a girl with short purple hair, glancing shyly over the top of her glasses. Sitting on the tall chair, her legs swung in a distracted fashion as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Did you just see me?" Nagato asked suddenly, jolting me back to reality. "Correction, one of my previous forms I mean?"

"I guess so," I said awkwardly as the image of the girl faded away. "I've occasionally seen that girl when I've been having particularly bad spells and I always wondered who it was."

"I'm so sorry Kyon," said Nagato. "I had hoped that transferring myself via that card would be less invasive and cause less interference with this world. But instead, it has done the opposite, nearly destroying you and sending Suzumiya on a reckless path of discovery."

"Well, it isn't that bad I suppose," I said, feeling bad for her. "As for Haruhi, she'll get bored soon enough and move on to next shiny object, she usually does."

"That eventuality would be of even greater concern," said Nagato. "Though the current state of your mind is more pressing."

"Shall we start on fixing me then," I said. "Then at least that'll be one thing less to worry about."

"Yes," said Nagato with a nod. "We have wasted too much time already."

"So, what should I do," I asked with a shrug.

"Just recline on the bed and sleep," said Nagato. "I need to analyse your brain during its dream state to get a baseline. So, if you want to get ready, then we'll begin."

I did as she said, heading to the bathroom to change and get myself ready for a very welcome sounding sleep. Returning to my bedroom, the robot girl's eyes seem to glow so brightly in the dark and wondered if I'd sleep with them watching me. But as I lay my head on the pillow, I felt the soft touch of Nagato's rubber tipped fingers and felt instantly sleepy. I heard her say faintly, "goodnight Kyon" and I drifted away.

My dreams were strange, flashes of memories that I didn't recall experiencing and the disturbing feeling of something poking around inside my mind. Then all at once, they stopped and the jolt woke me up in pitch darkness. The robot was gone and I shook my head, my sleepy brain trying to decide if maybe it had all been just a part of my madness. But in the morning Nagato was back, sitting quietly on the chair again and watching me as my alarm dragged me from my slumber.

"Good morning," Nagato said softly and I despaired as I saw the smiling face of a human girl for a moment.

"I guess the cure didn't work," I said groggily.

"The situation is more complicated than I had anticipated," said Nagato. "I'm afraid I am going to need more data before I will risk attempting to repair the damage done to your mind."

"I guess I should have expected that," I said with a sigh. "So how do we go about getting this data?"

"I would like to accompany you to school," said Nagato. "There is information there that I believe will prove useful."

I looked at the robot trying to fathom what it could want at North High, but there was something clearly wrong. Nagato oddly wouldn't meet my eye and kept looking out at the grey clouds that loomed in the morning sky. But it probably had been too much to ask to be instantly cured of my affliction, maybe she just felt ashamed at her lack of success.

"Fine," I said, "just give me a minute." Starting the laborious process of getting ready for yet another school day as my still sleepy body struggled to obey commands.

Soon we were out and walking up the hill towards the school, walking slowly in a thoughtful silence. Nagato was wrapped up in my coat again, but I need not have worried about people seeing her as the streets felt unusually empty. Part of that was a thick grey fog that seemed to blanket everything, the faint shapes of the houses around us fading out almost as soon as they appeared. The sight gave me chill right through to the bones and I picked up the pace, hoping to get to the warmth of the classroom quickly.

Then a strange noise came bellowing out of the grey morass, which distorted the sound so bad I could barely make out the words.

"Kyon damn it, I order you to stop," came a panting voice. Issuing suddenly from Haruhi as she burst from the fog, grinning as she almost bowled me over. "I've been waving and calling to you for ages, why didn't you see me," she asked.

I looked at the mist in confusion, but Haruhi seemed completely heedless of it. I was about to point this out when Nagato grabbed my arm and shook her head. Instead, I just said, "Sorry I was miles away."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Well you'd better get your brain in gear because this is a doozy," she declared. "I've figured it out, I spent all night thinking and I've finally put everything together."

She paused, waiting for my response and started to look a little irritated at the lack of it. With a sigh, I said, "Well what is it?"

"Nope, no time to explain," Haruhi cried, "I'm going to show you up at the school and it's absolutely amazing!"

It was tempting to turn right around a walk back home, but Haruhi didn't give me choice. Yanking my tie, she pulled me up the hill, with a strength that defied the steep incline.

"Make sure you bring that robot," Haruhi yelled back. "It's part of all this."

I looked back, unable to grab Nagato as Haruhi pulled me forward. But the robot kept pace, looking rather ridiculous with its short stride. Ahead Haruhi laughed with glee at the excitement spilling out of her, which greatly contrasted the ominous feeling that growing inside me.

As we entered the school gate it was instantly clear that the place was deserted, the grey fog swallowing up everything but the nearest buildings. Nagato's glowing eyes turning the closest tendrils of mist a sickly yellow as she gazed about at our surroundings. Haruhi was dancing about ahead, clearly still buzzing with energy and beckoning for us to follow.

"Come on Kyon," Haruhi cried. "We've got to find them."

"Find who?" I called back.

Haruhi groaned as she stopped and rolled her eyes. "Why Koizumi, Miss Asahina and Ryoko of course," she said. "Then we can get the truth out them once and for all."

She turned to race off but suddenly leapt back in fright as a figure appeared in front of her. I raced forward, but Nagato easily beat me, moving to stand between the stranger and Haruhi.

"Well I think the truth is something we all want to know isn't it, Suzumiya?" said Asakura menacingly. There was none of her previous maternal smile now, as an artificial rictus spread across her face. "But don't worry, the Data Integration Thought Entity will uncover it, by any means necessary."

"The Entity consented to our agreement," said Nagato defiantly. Spreading her arms to protect me and Haruhi.

"But I hold little trust in this, Entity's ability to keep to such ideals," said a voice behind me. Causing me to spin around and see the casual smile of Koizumi, dressed in an impeccably tailored black suit. "So, it'll be us that finds the answers, not you."

"Please will everyone calm down," cried Miss Asahina, stumbling out the fog on her heels. "You'll jeopardise the timeline and everything we've worked for."

Asakura laughed as she retorted, "like the Entity cares about your insignificant future. You'll all be wiped from existence once we have the data we require."

"Don't you dare underestimate us," stammered Miss Asahina, trying to stand tall. "We will fight to protect the timeline with everything we have, even it means taking control of the target for ourselves."

"I'm afraid neither of you or your respective parties will be doing any such thing," said Koizumi confidently. A ball of red light glowing between his fingers as he added, "the Organisation will be taking control of this situation, permanently."

"Oh really," said Asakura with a peel of laughter. "I'd like to see you primitive insects try."

With that, she stepped back and there was a sudden ripple, not only in the fog but in the very fabric of space. A dark void opened behind her and great long black tentacles writhed out the abyss. Like my library card, the tentacles weren't made of flesh or smoke, but untold billions of ones and zeros, constantly flickering from one to the other. They wrapped around Asakura, lifting her into the air like a great throne, rippling over her body in a disturbing manner.

Miss Asahina stared aghast for a moment, then shook herself and stood her ground. With a determined grimace, she put a finger to her ear and said, "now!"

There was a sound like a sliding metal door and several portals of light slid open behind her. Allowing a platoon of soldiers to march out in perfect formation, all equipped with advanced looking powered armour and stylish laser guns. There was a slow rumble and the faint sound of sirens as a huge split opened in the world. Eventually opening wide enough for a huge mecha to stomp into place, standing almost as tall as a house and brimming with all kinds of weaponry. The blonde male pilot saluted Miss Asahina and she smiled grimly as she drew out a sophisticated looking laser pistol.

Koizumi only smiled as he raised his hand and a dozen suited figures drifted down from the sky, all surrounded by a bright red light. I heard Haruhi gasp as from around the corner of the school a great giant emerged, its huge body made of blue and white energy that crackled with rage. As wrapped around its arms, legs and neck were red leashes of lightning, controlled by more suited figures that floated along beside it.

Haruhi mouthed soundless exclamations and made to run towards it, but I grabbed her shoulder afraid she would be trampled by the great creature. The giant made a lunge towards her but was savagely yanked back by the suited figures, leaving it to merely roar in fury.

"Kyon, we must get you and Suzumiya somewhere safer," said a voice in my ear. I turned to see the blank gaze of Nagato, motioning to get closer to the school buildings. I grabbed Haruhi and despite her protests, dragged her towards a low wall. Crouching down behind it, Haruhi bounced with excitement, her eyes wide with amazement at the incredible scene. I was more concerned with getting caught up in ensuing onslaught, but Haruhi seemed not to care.

"What the heck is going on," I asked Nagato.

But it was Haruhi who answered, "this is what I wanted to show you, Kyon."

"What a war zone?" I replied.

"No, the truth behind our school," responded Haruhi with a groan of exasperation. "As I said Miss Asahina is a time traveller, so these soldiers and that machine must be from the future as well. Then Asakura is from some alien super intelligence, no doubt far beyond the comprehension of mankind.

"Then what's with Koizumi and that giant blue thing?" I said.

"I think they're Espers and have like weird psychic powers," answered Haruhi confidently. But that seemed to drain from her voice as she added, "as for the giant, I'm not sure."

She was quiet for a moment, then shaking off the thought Haruhi suddenly pointed towards the assembled adversaries with renewed excitement. "Look Kyon," she cried. "I think everything is about to kick off."

I saw Koizumi and Miss Asahina look in our direction, then at each other. He closed his eyes for a moment then said, "prepare yourselves, for we will show mercy."

"Neither will we," cried Miss Asahina. "We will protect our future no matter the cost."

"I care little for your trifles," sneered Asakura, the dark tentacles readying to attack. "I'm just glad that I can finally make something exciting, happen around here."

Then they moved towards each other and all hell broke loose.

Asakura attacked first launching a tentacle at Miss Asahina's soldiers, smashing into their front lines. The mecha opened fire in response, the spinning barrels of its guns screaming as they spat thousands of bullets at Asakura. The attacking tentacle was rapidly severed with an unearthly shriek, vanishing into smoke as the rest moved at lightning speed to protect their mistress.

The stream of bullets was stopped by a red fireball that smashed into mecha's arm, causing the gun to explode in a shower of spinning metal. The surrounding soldiers quickly moved to defensive positions and opened fire on Koizumi's dark-suited companions above.

A woman from the Organisation fell screaming to the ground, vanishing into the shrubs by the main hall. Enraged, the suits hurled wave after wave of red fire at the soldiers, engulfing several and sending others flying.

"Come on get him," came a cry. "Wreck that tin can."

I looked to see Haruhi waving her arms in excitement as she cheered on the blue giant, watching it grappled with the mecha. Their arms locked together they pushed against each other like titanic sumo wrestlers, straining to gain the upper hand. This instead came from a couple suited figures hurling a fireball together at one of the mecha's legs. It struggled to maintain its balance, but the mecha staggered and was hurled by the blue giant into fences of the baseball field.

"Look they're retreating," exclaimed Haruhi. Waving a finger in the direction of the soldiers as they slowly moved back towards the fallen mech, constantly firing at Koizumi's allies and the ever-lashing tentacles of Asakura.

Haruhi was now so enthralled by the battle by now, giving a running and frankly unnecessary commentary on the action. Pointing out each new event with untold excitement and exclaiming dramatically as the battle unfolded. "How in the hell is she doing that," demanded Haruhi. Watching amazed as Asakura's tentacles seemed to disappear into dark portals, only to emerge next to her foes and strike them down.

"Ha, she got Koizumi," Haruhi shouted. "Oh, he doesn't look happy about it." Sure enough, as Koizumi reeled from an almost playful slap to the face, he seemed to focus his mysterious energy to even greater levels. The red glow around him was growing as fireballs began to swirl around him in rapid loops, like the electrons in an atom. He sent them hurtling towards Asakura, smashing into the mass of dark coils around with astonishing ferocity.

But Haruhi's attention was already on something else as she cried, "look they've got jetpacks!" Lo and behold some of the soldiers soared into the air, bringing themselves into close quarters with the floating espers, hitting them at close range. The Organisation counter attacked with lightning fast martial arts moves, that were an equal match for the powered armour of the soldiers.

"Uh oh, that big robot's getting back up," pointed out Haruhi loudly. As I followed her finger, the great machine started to twitch, then slowly pulled itself to its knees. The damage was too severe for it to stand, but it still looked ready to attack. As Haruhi exclaimed, "I think it's got rockets." Two hatches opened on its shoulders and a swarm of missiles roared into the sky. We watched them shoot straight up and I thought they must have miss-fired. But high above the smoke trails looped around and they came hurtling back down.

I instinctively pulled Haruhi to the ground, as the blue giant was pulled down to act as a shield for the espers. The soldiers hunkered down in front of the mecha as Asakura's tentacles formed a cocoon around her. Then suddenly the world seemed to be full of explosions and I threw myself over Haruhi, ready for the blast to hit.

But I never felt it.

Peeking up, I saw Nagato standing over us, her hand raised and a blue dome of light glowing from her fingertips. Smoke was swirling against the dome and Haruhi hurled me off, complaining that I was in the way. I was more relieved at being alive and thanked Nagato profusely, but she only nodded in acceptance.

"Damnit, why won't this smoke clear," said Haruhi, moving her head about in the hope for a better view. But then a light breeze blew and the smoke swirled and shifted, slowly revealing the battlefield in front of us. It was surprisingly still, apart from at the centre where Miss Asahina was struggling to pull one her troops to safety, wildly pointing her laser pistol in the direction of Koizumi.

"Uh oh, Miss Asahina, look out," cried Haruhi and the teacher suddenly looked up us in panic. Completely missing Asakura as she emerged from the smoke with a terrifying grin on her face. There was a horrible scream as the shadowy tentacles of the Entity wrapped around Miss Asahina and she fought desperately to free herself. Koizumi suddenly rushed forward but was struck by a rogue tentacle, that hammered him to the ground before he could get close.

Haruhi was on the edge of her seat as she was describing in minute detail what was happening to the unfortunate teacher. It was then I realised how quick Haruhi's commentary was, to the point where it seemed to be becoming before the actual events, not just after.

"I bet Miss Asahina's got some secret weapon in store," said Haruhi. "Something so devastating she's afraid to use it, even now."

Despite her distress, the teacher's head snapped around towards Haruhi, her eyes filled with terror. Then one of those fear filled eyes started to glow, growing brighter and brighter until Miss Asahina snapped her head back to Asakura. There was a pitiful cry of, "Mi-Mi-Miku…" But the rest was lost, as a massive electric 'boom' filled the air.

I was blinded for a moment, as an astonishing beam of white light that erupted from Miss Asahina's right eye. The shocking power of the weapon seemed to surprise even her, as her head snapped back sending the beam slicing wildly.

It cut through a massive chunk of Asakura's tentacles, narrowly missing the girl herself. As Miss Asahina fell from her grasp, the beam of light kept going, slicing through the flog in weird patterns and cutting down several of the sports field's massive spotlights. The beam only stopped when it struck one of the leashes holding down the blue giant, the two energies cancelling each other out in a massive explosion of light.

The giant shrank back from the blast but realising one of its arms was free, made a dramatic bid for freedom. Grabbing the esper controlling its other arm, it hurled the unfortunate figure through the window of the third-floor classrooms. The Organisation members fled in fear as the giant stamped the leashes on its legs out of existence and ripped the final one around its neck.

It gave a great roar of triumph, before suddenly bounding towards us with surprising speed. I cowered in fear as lumbered up, expecting to be trampled to a pulp. But it merely stood over us protectively, bellowing in defiance.

I looked cautiously up, to see Haruhi standing on tiptoe, trying to touch the giant with a look of wonder on her face. The moment was broken as black tentacles wrapped around the giant's arm, pulling it away from us as it fought desperately to get free.

"Come on boy," screamed Haruhi. "Don't let her get you, beat Ryoko to a pulp."

As if galvanised by Haruhi's words the blue giant made a lunge for Asakura and grabbed her in its massive fist. With incredible force, it smashed the class president to the floor, so hard it made the ground shake. Over and over it slammed her until eventually, the mass of tentacles faded away. Leaving Asakura alone, motionless in a shallow crater in the tarmac.

The great mech collapsed onto all fours and a large weapon emerged from its back, the barrel extending as lightning rippled up its sides. But Miss Asahina raised a shaking hand to stop her comrade and slowly limped towards us. Her other hand covering her eye, but not the blood running down her cheek. Koizumi emerged from the smoke, bruised and battered, but with a look of grim determination on his handsome features.

As they got closer, the giant above roared defensively, putting its hands between them and us. They stopped and waited, the silence filling the air like gunslingers waiting for high noon. Even though the battle had stopped, the air wasn't clear. Instead, the atmosphere was heavy like the moments before a storm, the strange fog like a grey wall surrounding us. I could barely see the school now and the battlefield had vanished leaving only the five of us, along with towering giant.

"I think it's time to end this," said Koizumi bitterly and took a step forward.

I took a deep breath and stood, readying myself to fight as I walked in front of Haruhi.

But she leapt ahead, putting a hand to stop me. "You can't have him," Haruhi cried defiantly. "Kyon is mine and I won't let you hurt him." Everyone looked at her in surprise and Haruhi looked back at me with a tender smile. "I figured it out Kyon," she said, "they're after the stuff in your brain. Somewhere in that head of yours, there are secrets they want to discover or kept quiet and they'll do anything to get them."

Koizumi looked at me and then back to Haruhi, grimacing as he clutched at his head in pain. Miss Asahina rushed to his side, but also seemed disorientated, looking between Haruhi and myself as if unable to make up her mind.

"We must, focus on," Miss Asahina started haltingly. "The mission, remember…?"

"Koizumi, Miss Asahina and Ryoko, they're all out to get you, Kyon," cried Haruhi. "But don't worry, I'll stop them if it's the last…"

Haruhi suddenly gasped as something grabbed her from behind, her mouth opening silently in surprise. The blur was Nagato, holding her fist to Haruhi's slender neck, a long needle projecting from her plastic knuckles into the flesh.

I leapt forward and heedlessly threw the robot aside, catching Haruhi as she slumped into my arms. She looked up at me in terror for a moment, before her eyes closed and she fell into unconsciousness. Above us, the giant suddenly screamed and clutched at its head, before suddenly vanishing into twinkling starlight as if it had never existed. The fog around us seemed to recede a little and a few strokes of sunlight shone through.

I patted Haruhi's cheeks, whispering to her to wake up, but she wasn't. Then I felt shadows standing over me and looked up at Koizumi and Miss Asahina. I started to pull Haruhi away from them. "Do what you want to me," I said. "but leave Haruhi out of it, she has nothing to do with this."

"Haruhi," Koizumi laughed as he gestured at our surroundings. "Miss Suzumiya has everything to do with this."

"How does it," I demanded. "What the hell do you want from her?"

"Answers my friend," said Koizumi. "Just that."

"To what and don't you dare call me a friend now," I said incredulously. "What question could necessitate all this lunacy?"

"The simplest one, the one any man would ask their god," replied Koizumi. "Why?"

"Why what," I said try to comprehend his words. "If you're wanting to talk to gods you're in the wrong place, try a temple, church or mosque."

Koizumi laughed again, but there was no warmth in that smooth smile, as his eyes betrayed only madness. "Oh, I'm in exactly the right place," he said. "Because believe it or not, God is in your arms, right now. So just be a good chap and hand her over."

He took a step forward and put out his hand, but I scrambled back pulling Haruhi with me. I looked at her, unable to understand Koizumi's words, how could Haruhi be God. "She's a lot of things, but a god isn't one of them," I stated. "Haruhi is just an ordinary high school girl and I'll be dammed if I'm giving her to a lunatic like you."

"Don't worry Kyon she'll be perfectly fine," said Koizumi with menacing softness. "Believe me, I have no desire to harm a hair on Miss Suzumiya's head. I love as much as you do, if not more."

This time I laughed. "So that's what this is all about," I said. "You can't handle why she doesn't feel the same way and now you want to get some petty vengeance."

"Oh, this is far deeper than some silly school boy's crush," retorted Koizumi. "I have far more important questions in mind, like why she gave me all this power, only to shackle me with pointless limitations. Why she forces me to watch over her every night, endlessly fighting while she carries on a carefree existence?"

Koizumi gazed longingly at Haruhi and then added, "Why she made me love her with every essence of my being when she only loves you?"

"What are you talking about," I stammered, Koizumi's words making me nervous. "Haruhi has never forced you to do anything and certainly doesn't love me."

"Please don't be such a fool," said Koizumi incredulously. "I went into that club room and I saw it, a glimpse of what you see in your fractured mind. The ghosts of previous worlds, previous versions of myself. All loving Miss Suzumiya, all doomed to failure and all forced to watch you two stumble around each other for eternity."

Koizumi took a deep breath before continuing, "now give her to me and I will finally get my resolution."

I tried to get away from the madman, looking at Miss Asahina for aid as she glanced at Koizumi in fear with her one good eye. The other was hidden by hair, but the blood was still running down her face and she swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"Miss Asahina," I implored. "You're a teacher how can you support all this insanity?"

She looked at me with a mixture of fear and confusion, the shock of the battle making her look like a frightened little girl. "Am I Kyon," she stammered. "Am I a teacher, I don't know anymore. I too looked into that room and saw so many different things, sometimes seeing a girl, others a woman. I felt memories of a time traveller and memories of a regular school girl, all jumbled up into a nightmare."

"Yeah, that's what my life has been like," I commented savagely. "What's that got to with Haruhi?"

"Because she's at the centre of it all," pleaded Miss Asahina. "Always there, always unchanging as we all dance around her."

"So, you're another lunatic who thinks Haruhi is a god too," I retorted.

"No," Miss Asahina stammered. "I'm not sure about that, but she is a being of immense power. Able to change the world to her will, to rend the future and past as she sees fit. Surely you must remember something of that Kyon, remember that all this is her doing, her will."

She motioned at the war zone around us, wherein her soldiers and Koizumi's companions helped each other with their wounds. The fog was starting to gradually clear and I watched as part of the school's science building collapsed into rubble.

That irritating itch at the back of mind started up again, but I was too angry to agree with these idiots. "So, you want answers too," I said sarcastically. "You want to open up Haruhi's brain and rummage around until you realise she doesn't have a solution to your insane problems."

"It won't come to that, I promise," Miss Asahina implored. "I don't want to hurt her either."

"Well it's a little late for that," I snapped, looking at the sleeping girl in my arms.

"Please try to understand Kyon," Miss Asahina cried. "The future is a mess, nothing makes sense, the rules of causality are breaking down. We came here looking for answers and found Miss Suzumiya, but she only brought us more questions."

Miss Asahina staggered closer, through the gaps in her hair I could see the glint of complex machinery where her eye should be. I recoiled in horror, but she still pressed forward, trying to make me understand.

"The thought that at any moment Miss Suzumiya might on a whim, wipe the future from existence is terrifying," cried Miss Asahina. "My family, your family, everything erased and replaced with something new without you even knowing. I need to understand why and I hoped we would have your cooperation, you never know she might even have answers for you."

"I don't care about answers," I proclaimed. "Not when it cost this."

I pushed myself to my feet, awkwardly lifting the sleeping Haruhi into my arms. I began to slowly walk backwards, keeping Koizumi and Miss Asahina in sight.

"Please reconsider Kyon," pleaded Miss Asahina. "Don't make us do this."

I gave her an angry glare but didn't dignify her insanity with an answer.

"This isn't a negotiation," said Koizumi firmly as he stepped towards me. "We will get those answers with or without your help."

"I'll give you an answer," I shouted angrily. "You lunatics can all go and..."

I suddenly bumped into something behind me, making me stumble as I felt a sharp pain in my neck. My knees buckled as my muscles stopped following orders. Panicking as Haruhi began to slip from my fingers, I clumsily tried to grab her again but failed.

I watched helplessly as Koizumi deftly caught Haruhi and lifted her into his arms. Smiling as he watched me collapse to the floor, my arms feebly trying to reach out.

As my eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier, I looked up into a pair of empty robotic eyes.

"I'm sorry Kyon," Nagato said and everything faded to black.

 _"Well, that farce hardly went according to plan."_

 _"It didn't help that you brought that horrific beast with you, what were you and your Organisation thinking?"_

 _"We didn't know if you or the Entity would stick to the agreement, so we brought some insurance. The plan might have been salvageable if it wasn't for you and that damn secret weapon of yours."_

 _"Do you think I wanted that to happen, I never imagined Miss Suzumiya could affect me like that, it was horrible."_

 _"I just hope knocking both of them out won't jeopardize the plan. I mean are we still on track?"_

 _"Spatial variance is decreasing, but there will be still time begin the procedure. I trust the equipment I requested has been prepared?"_

 _"My people have been bringing it through from the future since last night, it's all set up."_

 _"Then let's get this over with."_

 _"I hope it's worth it, I just wish there had been a better way."_

 _"As do I, but there was no time."_


	8. Chapter 8

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 8**

 _"Are they both secured?"_

 _"_ _Yes, though I don't know if it will hold if she starts to struggle."_

 _"_ _Any further sedation may affect the successful outcome of the experiment. If your people in the future can maintain the gateway, then all should go as planned."_

 _"_ _Don't worry they know what to do, have you managed to stabilise the connection with this Entity of yours?"_

 _"_ _Affirmative, the link has been steady for some time. Now all we require is the metaphysical bond with Suzumiya's psyche."_

 _"_ _Never fear, my Organisation is more than ready. Despite your doubts about our abilities."_

 _"_ _We don't have time for doubts, only success or failure."_

 _"_ _Then shall we begin?"_

"Where in the Hell am I?" I yelled, throwing curses in every direction. Yanking at the leather straps that bound me as I screamed, "let me go!"

I arched my back, turning my head left and right, trying to figure out where I was. With all the crazy things going on, it wouldn't have surprised me to find me myself in an asylum. But no, I was back in the damn literature club room, only this time there was something very wrong with it. The faded white walls were rippling in and out like waves. Making the furniture contort in the style of a drunk surrealist painting.

Twisting to see behind me I glimpsed a great machine, gritting my teeth through the pain to try and get a better look. I could just about make out Koizumi and Miss Asahina, both lying on beds like my own. Though much to my chagrin, I noticed neither had straps holding them down. All arranged around a central pillar, like the petals of a flower.

In the centre of the pillar, Haruhi was restrained in an upright position. Attached to hundreds of electrodes, whose wires coiled around her sleeping body. Bathed in a column of yellow light, shinning down through the ever-shifting ceiling. The great machine crackled with red lightning and hummed with tremendous power.

I renewed my attempt to escape, pulling with all my might at the straps and making the air blue with insults. One restraint started to give a little, but a cold hand appeared and pulled it tight.

"Please don't struggle Kyon," said a maternal voice and I shrank back in horror. For standing over me was a broken mass of machinery where a face should be. One camera hung broken, while the other focused on me with a cracked lens. Motors and gears moved around what had once been its mouth, in an attempt at a smile as she patted my arm. Only the mass of long blue hair told me the nightmare in front of me was my class president, Ryoko Asakura. Who ignored my complaints while she attached electrodes to my forehead.

"Get these things off me!" I cried, trying to pull my head free.

"There there," said Asakura tenderly as she placed the last electrode. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

I didn't care how soon and started struggling again, trying in vain to get free of the god damn machine.

"Kyon," said the artificial voice of Nagato, from the far side of the pillar. "The process will be much easier if you are in a relaxed state, so please lay still." Nagato ignored my protests, instead enquiring, "Ryoko, is everything ready?"

I glared at Asakura, but she smiled back and replied, "he's as ready as he'll ever be." I tried to follow her as she went over to the main part of the machine and started fiddling with the controls. The roar of power in the room became deafening and the world filled with even more bolts of red lightning. Then when it felt like my brain couldn't take any more, everything seemed to turn inside out.

The darkness was so sudden, so absolute that I wasn't sure if I was asleep or awake, alive or dead. My brain told me I was standing up, even though the ground felt vague and insubstantial. I looked about, trying to find well, anything to see.

"How curious," came a smooth male voice behind me.

Spinning around, I saw Koizumi looking at his own hands with interest. Not giving him a chance, I charged towards Koizumi ready to beat him to a pulp. But as I braced for impact, I shot through him as he cried out in alarm. I struggled to keep my footing as I span around ready to attack again. But Koizumi was just standing there looking at himself with fascination. His body reforming from a thousand sparkling motes, drifting slowly back into formation.

I looked down, feeling unnerved at my lack of substance, my hands passing through each other with ease. I peered at Koizumi, surprised at how different he seemed. Gone were the dark eyes, replaced by a bright sparkle that matched his clean-shaven cheeks. The black suit had vanished in favour of the standard blue blazer of the North High winter uniform. Now cutting a dashing figure as he stood there and gave me a friendly smile.

"I understand how angry you must feel right now," said Koizumi. "But please bear with us Kyon. Once we have or for that matter, have not found what we seek here. We will endure whatever punishment you or Miss Suzumiya see fit."

Despite his openness, I was still angry. But if I couldn't punch Koizumi's lights out there was no point ranting and raving about it. I decided to bottle it up until I got out of here, then I and Haruhi would deal with these lunatics.

In the stillness, there was soft female gasp to my left, making both Koizumi and I turn in surprise. There, sparkling in the darkness, was a teenage girl with long auburn hair. Attempting to pat her uniform-clad waistline with some amusement. Not only looking cute, but very familiar as well.

"Even with all my adventures in time, I never imagined I'd be young again," she said with a giggle.

"Miss Asahina," I asked, though part of me already knew it was her. She looked around at us and smiled, a shy blush forming on her cheeks.

"Hi Kyon," she said with an awkward wave. "Yes, it's me."

"How did," I started, before realising something. "Wait, didn't I see you like that over the summer?"

"Yeah that was me too, only that's classif..." started this young version of Miss Asahina. Then she gave a resigned sigh and continued, "I don't suppose secrecy matters now."

"So Haruhi was right, you are a time traveller," I said.

"Yes, replied Asahina with another sigh. "Miss Suzumiya is usually right or when she's wrong she makes it right. Though it is curious that I look like this in here, perhaps subconsciously she still sees me as a girl. Which might explain why I had such problems teaching her or at the very least getting her to behave."

"Subconsciously," I asked. "So, is this place Haruhi's mind or something?"

"It is a multi-dimensional construct of our joint memories," came the quiet voice of Nagato. "Though Suzumiya's mind functions as the largest and most vital part."

I turned to see a pair of large amber eyes looking up at me through a pair of large glasses. The robot Nagato outside this place was gone. Replaced by the again, oddly familiar sight of a short girl in uniform.

Feeling a little awkward as a blush started to form on her cheeks, I looked about for anything that wasn't the four of us. "So, if these are our memories," I said pointing into the infinite void. "Why is it so empty in here?"

"This is just the lobby programme," explained Nagato. "I wanted to make sure the system was stable before we went any further, I will now attempt to load the memory data." Raising her hand Nagato added, "be aware, this may feel rather unsettling."

Something glittered, then suddenly became two streams of light that hurtled towards us. Despite feeling like we caught between two express trains, there was no sound or wind, only light. At the same time, my brain felt like it was being hit with the coldest of cold showers. A sensation that was both disturbing, but also rather invigorating.

Nagato moved her hands like an orchestral conductor and in response, the light began to slow. Forming long corridors of rectangular frames that stretched off as far as the eye could see. Coming to a standstill, I saw that the panes were actually pictures. Creating an art gallery around us of a size that was impossible for the human mind to comprehend. In each frame, enacted small scenes that looped endlessly in the dark void.

Koizumi looked impressed as he pondered the images around us. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "so, these are all memories of our previous selves."

"Indeed," confirmed Nagato. "But the data suffers from severe fragmentation and has taken all the Entity's power to recreate. I have assembled the strongest memories from each iteration, but it is not a conclusive image of each one."

"How my iterations are there," asked Asahina in awe.

"The actual number of times Suzumiya has reset the universe is unknown," stated Nagato. "What I have managed to compile here is only a small fraction of the information that was actually usable."

I gazed at the endless frames, each showing a different world as they vanished into the distance. My breath whistled out of me as I asked, "So what are you looking for here. Because these answers you keep talking about must be important, to go through all this."

"We need to learn if there any kind of patterns or constants," said Nagato. "Some sign of what makes Suzumiya dissatisfied with one world and want to create another."

There was an awkward pause as we stood looking at each other, wondering which one us was at fault. No doubt they suspected me since I was the closest to Haruhi, but whether there was any proof was a different thing.

"Shall we begin," suggested Koizumi, leaving the two girls to nod in reply. I stood there for a moment and watched them walk off in different directions without a word. Then with a shrug, I too wandered off amongst the endless rows of forgotten memories.

Casually, I strolled between the frames watching images of us enacting day to day scenes. Nagato had asked for constants and at a glance, it was clear that many of these moments featured only the five of us. The quintet of Haruhi, Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina and myself. Sometimes we were talking in the club room, but often we were being led about on yet another wild adventure. Filming a movie, playing on the beach or skiing in the mountains. Nothing too unusual for a bunch of high school kids, but I wasn't sure if I was qualified to gauge that. We seemed to be having fun, making me feel a little nostalgic at the tiny sparks of remembrance in my own memory.

But as I wandered, I started to see an increased variance in the locations and company we kept. For example, one showed Haruhi and me in the distinctive dark uniforms of Kouyou

Academy. Chatting to a girl I'd known in middle school, along with other students that I only vaguely recalled. There was no sign of Koizumi, Asahina or Nagato in this world, but I assumed they must have been around somewhere.

I saw other people that I felt I should know, faces that hung on the edge of memory. Some were ordinary students my age, while others were wildly eccentric. Like a green haired girl who wanted nothing more, than to dance about the club room. Singing a cute little ditty about her love for smoked cheese. It made me feel a little sad to not remember their names, to not recall these experiences. Making me wonder what they had done to deserve such a fate, wiped from existence for a crime that no one remembered.

In some cases, the trigger was clear as I watched a fragment of a grim story unfold in front of me. In this moment I stood with arms stretched before Haruhi in a protective stance. Opposing us was Asakura, holding a large kitchen knife as tears streamed down her cheeks. With shaking hands, Asakura pleaded in a quavering voice, before suddenly rushing forward. I felt the phantom of something stabbing my own stomach and I doubled up in pain. Grimacing, I looked back up at the frame, only to see that it had reset itself to tell its tragic story over and over again.

Leaving that past behind, I walked past others telling stories of happiness and tears. It was unnerving to see how many featured me kissing Haruhi, giving me the phantom sensation of her lips on mine. I tried to escape my discomfort and headed towards Asahina as she stood gazing at a frame in front of her.

This one showed a long beach, where a dying red sun glowed huge on the horizon and turned the sea a blood red. Horrible lobster-like creatures scuttled in the surf as dark-winged birds soared overhead. Another Asahina and I stood on the beach, watching this grim scene as the red light marred her cute features. Everything was still, until one of the creatures snapped its claws at her ankles. She jumped with fright and lost her footing in the soft sand. Falling in a mass of petticoats and exposing her underwear to everyone watching.

I blushed and looked away, meeting Asahina eyes as she did likewise. "Just my luck to have you see that," she said with awkward amusement.

"Well I guess I've seen them before, if that's any consolation," I said with a vague shrug.

But Asahina wasn't listening, her eyes now transfixed by the story unfolding in the picture in front of us. The me on the beach reached down with a smile and pulled the fallen Asahina to her feet. As she stood up, Asahina fell against my chest and looked up at me breathlessly. Our eyes met and we kissed, silhouetted against the crimson sun.

I glanced at the Asahina next to me, wondering what she might expect of me. But she was still enraptured by the scene, her hands clasped in front of a chest as a sigh escaped her lips. Then a crash of trees made me look back at the pane, where the loving couple gazed about in fear.

I heard both the Asahina next to me and the one in the picture say in unison. "Don't be afraid, we're too far in the future, she'll never find us here."

But there was another crash, as the line of trees at the edge of the beach exploded outwards. Clutching each other in terror the couple watched as Haruhi stormed out of the darkness. The expression on her face one of utmost fury as she growled, "Mikuru!"

The scene faded into darkness and began again, the dying sun never setting. Asahina looked at me with tears in the corners of her eyes, as the pair in the frame kissed once more.

"I can feel her fear Kyon," Asahina said. "In the bottom of my heart, all that terror the other me was experiencing is still there. But I can also feel all that love, echoing from these worlds like the faint recollection of a dream."

"I'm not sure if these feelings are best left forgotten," continued Asahina. "But I must understand why Suzumiya even lets us even experience them if she hates it so much. Is it free will, is it a game or just some kind of cruel punishment?"

I couldn't answer her, but Asahina was expecting one. She went back to watching the scene play out over and over, gazing at us kissing again with tears on her cheeks. Unable to watch anymore, I took one last look at Haruhi's rage-filled eyes and walked away.

Passing a cheery Christmas party and an unhappy graduation, I walked along until I saw Nagato. Who gazed silently at a frame that hung huge in front of her, showing the bright lights of a summer festival. Wearing beautiful yukatas, Haruhi and Asakura, watched a couple in the distance.

Nagato waved her fingers in front of the frame and the image zoomed in on the couple. Allowing me to see that it was myself and Nagato, looking very pretty in her own yukata. Fireworks boomed around us drowning out all other sounds. But the Nagato next to me gestured again and the image focused in on the face of my previous self. With rapt attention, Nagato watched his lips move, then smiled a little and looked away.

Only then noticing me standing next to her, Nagato started and quickly waved a hand at the frame. The scene spun until it alighted on Haruhi's face, gazing upon this romantic moment. She smiled at something Asakura said, but there wasn't any happiness there. Nagato studied the pain evident in Haruhi's eyes, before letting the frame resume its original cycle.

"Nagato, I'm…" I started as she walked away, thinking I should say something.

She raised a hand but didn't face me. "It's fine Kyon," Nagato said. "This is all ancient history, there's nothing we can do to alter that. The only thing we can do is try to learn something from it and maybe then we'll understand why this all occurred."

"And have you learnt anything," I asked.

There was a pause and Nagato sighed as she said, "nothing that I didn't already know."

She walked off among the frames, lost in her own thoughts. Feeling that she wanted to be alone, I left Nagato and wandered aimlessly through the gallery. Various club events unfolded around me, games, projects and experiments. Whatever had crossed Haruhi's mind and caught her attention in that moment. It surprised me to see us engaging in actual Literature Club activities for a change. Like reading homemade poems to each other and preparing for the upcoming festival. But I left that behind as my meandering exploration led me to Koizumi. Who was studying a frame with a great degree of interest.

This one showed another Koizumi, chatting to a tomboy looking girl with a long ponytail. She denied his affections at first, but the bright blush on her cheeks gave her feelings away. I was about to ask who the girl was, but a sinking feeling in my gut told me I already knew her identity. Because it was me, a female version of myself that I had once glimpsed in the bathroom mirror.

"I see you're having a fun time finding these answers of yours," I snapped.

Koizumi laughed as the other him kissed me… I mean the girl version of me, on the cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to try and relive the past?" he said with a wink.

I glared at him as I tried to ignore the sensation touching my cheek. "Don't make me try and punch you again," I said. "I'm sure there's a picture here somewhere of me beating the daylights out of you, I bet that will much more fun to relive."

"It wouldn't surprise me if there was," said Koizumi. "Miss Suzumiya has quite the imagination when it comes to reinventing the world."

"Well, she is a god isn't she," I asked. "Or have you changed your mind on that?"

Koizumi smiled and watched Haruhi in the background of the frame, her eyes filled with malice. "Whether she's a god or not is no doubt a semantic issue now," he said. "I mean she has godlike powers, that cannot be doubted. But as for whether that makes her god, I'm not sure."

"So, you've lost faith then?" I remarked.

"I'm certainly having to reconsider what I call faith," said Koizumi. "Because it blinded me to a simple fact, one you pointed out to me earlier and should have been so obvious to me. I had become so wrapped up in her divinity, convinced that Miss Suzumiya had some divine wisdom to bestow upon me, that I missed the real truth."

"What truth is that," I asked.

"That, as far as she's concerned. Miss Suzumiya is just an ordinary high school girl," answered Koizumi. "With all her deepest desires and darkest fears being those of a normal human, not some supreme being. That she will never be able to satisfy my questions because she herself doesn't know the answers."

He gave a despondent shrug and I said, "so where will you find these answers, or don't you believe they exist now?"

"Like many truths," said Koizumi. "I will have to uncover them within me or just keep wandering these halls until I find the right inspiration."

"Good luck with that," I said. "I don't think I or the others have found anything here and I'm not sure there are any, only more questions."

"There are answers to be found," said Koizumi. "Maybe not the big ones I'd hoped for, but they have brought me some peace."

"Like what," I asked.

Koizumi took a deep breath and said as he gestured to another frame. "Well, I had always presumed that our failures had been caused by troubles of the heart. Namely, your failure to pursue Miss Suzumiya and that everything here could have been avoided. If only she had given me the chance."

I looked at the frame where Koizumi and Haruhi kissed on the roof of the school, the wind tussling their hair. The image riled me a little and I glared at it irritably, making Koizumi chuckle. "But as you can see that is not the case," He added, gazing at the frame. "Also, I have seen a great many worlds where you and Miss Suzumiya have found each other's hearts. So I can't blame you there either."

"Then what does make her want to wipe the world clean and start again?" I said.

"That's the big question isn't it," said Koizumi. "While I am certain that your relationship with Miss Suzumiya is a major part of all this, it is not the only factor at play. But as for what that is, is something we don't know, and I fear may never be known."

We both looked up to see Nagato and Asahina walking towards us, grim expressions on their faces. "Have you had any luck," asked Koizumi without much enthusiasm.

"Nothing conclusive," said Nagato. Seeming almost angry with herself for our lack of results.

"I feel like we're only going to find nostalgia, pain and frustration here," added Asahina. "Any answers seem to be forever out of reach, even though I'm sure they're out there."

"How much time do we have left," asked Koizumi.

"Not long," said Nagato. "Suzumiya will soon wake and it would be unlikely that we will get another opportunity at this."

"So, what should we do," asked Asahina. "Keep looking in the hope we stumble on something?"

"No, there is far too much data," said Nagato. "I underestimated how many iterations there would be and we do not have time to study it all."

"Well what's the earliest of these iterations," I said, feeling like I should be involved. "Is there any way of telling which one came first?"

"I can attempt to rank them based on the rate of decay," said Nagato. "Hypothetically the older the data, the more it will have deteriorated over time."

Nagato waved her hands again, closing her eyes as she conducted a silent concerto. The frames began to swirl around us, again forming into two lines that hurtled past. After what felt like an age, the frames vanished behind us leaving a single picture. It showed the club room, looking ordinary if fractured and distorted. Like a broken mirror with pieces constantly flickering and changing.

We waited, but nothing happened. So I asked, "is there anything we can do to fix it?"

"I can," answered Nagato, "but it won't be pleasant."

She raised her fingers to the frame and sudden pain exploded in my head. Asahina whimpered and I glimpsed Koizumi's smile turning into a grimace. In the distance I could hear Haruhi crying out in agony, murmuring in fear from some nightmare.

The image in front of us started to heal, then expanded until it surrounded us. Leaving us standing within the familiar locale of the club room, blinking at the evening sun streaming in through the window.

At first, everything was still and we started looking at each other for an explanation. Then laughter echoed in from the hallway, the cruel sound of students mocking someone. Which grew louder as the door burst open and a girl stormed in.

Dragging a huge branch of bamboo, she scowled at the laughter before closing the door with a violent slam. She hauled the bamboo over to the window and placed it upright, taking a moment to straighten out the leaves. Standing back to admire her handy work, the girl smiled finally as she stroked a leaf with a tender touch.

Though she was scrawnier and her face marred by a few spots of acne. The unmistakable light in her eyes as she flashed that million-gigawatt smile, immediately told me it was Haruhi. Who was completely unaware of our presence as we watched her gazing out the window at the darkening sky.

But her smile faded as she saw two boys walking across the courtyard on their way home. They both looked up at Haruhi and sniggered, whispering a private joke that was very much at her expense. Making her spin around in anger and survey the room with her arms tightly folded.

"I'll show them," Haruhi declared to the empty room. "I'm going to make this place the greatest club in the universe, with the coolest members and the best adventures."

Haruhi started to march up and down the empty room, intensely deep in thought. "We'll investigate mysteries, play music, make movies, spend the whole summer having fun. Then those jerks at the Computer Club will beg me to be part of the action."

"But first I'm going to need club members," pondered Haruhi flinging herself into the seat at the head of the table. "And not just anyone, only the best, only the most perfect, but where can I..."

Haruhi stopped mid-sentence and an amused smile crossed her lips. Giving the branch of bamboo a thoughtful look, Haruhi took out a pen and several coloured pieces of paper. Before hunching over an orange one and beginning to write, talking as she went.

"Right, what does every great club need," pondered Haruhi aloud. "I know, one of those clumsy girls, always getting into embarrassing situations. Like one of those maids you get on TV shows, all moe and cute."

As Haruhi continued to write with considerable enthusiasm, we all looked at Asahina. Whose eyes were wide with fear as she listened to her own description being spoken aloud. But that was nothing compared to her astonishment when Haruhi tied the note to the branch of bamboo. For the club room was suddenly filled with motes of light, swirling until they coalesced into a human figure. One that was recognisable as Mikuru Asahina, even if it was only a ghost made of sparkling stars.

Haruhi didn't seem to notice the spectre as she stared into space, tapping the pen against her chin. Meanwhile, the Asahina next to me had gone deathly pale. Watching as her starlit other self, fussed about the room in a maid's dress. Gingerly she reached out to touch her past self, only for her fingers to pass through the heedless memory.

I wondered whether I should comfort Asahina in some way, but then Haruhi spoke again making us all look up. "We also need a bookworm," she said as she scribbled on the paper. "Someone shy and reserved, quiet but super smart. That seems unapproachable, but is so cute when you get to know them."

We all glanced at Nagato, but she was watching Haruhi with an intense gaze. Not even blinking as Haruhi turned and attached the piece of lavender paper to the bamboo stem. Only moving when the particles of light began to dance, drifting into the corner by the window. Forming a familiar girl who sat without a sound as she flicked through a thick novel.

Compared to the Asahina's phantom, who still fluttered about the room in a clumsy attempt to make tea. Nagato's was almost motionless apart from the constant turn of the pages. Regardless, the eyes of the Nagato with me were wide open, analysing every iota of her predecessor.

I looked at Koizumi as Haruhi began to speak again and he gave a grim smile back. "Then, of course, we need a mysterious transfer student," she declared happily. "Handsome and debonair, with some secret past only waiting to be discovered."

Koizumi gave his usual philosophical shrug, but it was clear how much this troubled him. He watched as his past self appeared, an enigmatic smile on his lips as he began to shuffle some playing cards. The three of them were quiet and introspective, they had found an answer, but I doubt it had brought them any peace. Making me wonder whether this was akin to seeing the moment of your birth or even as disturbing as the moment of your own conception.

Haruhi was as ever, oblivious to the turmoil she caused. Smiling as she looked at the decorated bamboo, admiring her handiwork. At first, I thought that was it for this memory and was about to ask the others what the plan was. When suddenly Haruhi giggled as an idea struck her, making her pick up the pen and begin writing again.

She scribbled with furious speed, hunching herself over the paper in a furtive way, as if scared the empty room might see. Haruhi's smile seemed almost embarrassed as her cheeks began to flush. Flipping the paper over to add more writing to the other side in her fervour.

"You know Nagato," said Asahina in a nervous voice. "Maybe we should leave, I'm not sure what else we can learn from this place."

But Nagato gave no response, continuing to study Haruhi, with only a momentary glance in my direction. Her expression unchanging, even when Haruhi finished and clicked her pen with a dramatic flourish. Tying the card to the bamboo with surprising delicacy, Haruhi then relaxed. Gazing out of the window at two stars shining brightly in the evening sky.

A strange sensation of nausea overcame me, like I was very thin and insubstantial. I saw the tiny spots of light begin to dance again and sinking feeling filled my heart, when a new figure emerged. At first, it was only an outline, but as it crossed the room more detail appeared, until there was no question of who it was.

"Incredible," said Koizumi, while Asahina whimpered. Nagato watching the figure with eyes so wide, that they almost looked scared.

I didn't want to look, thinking that if I didn't, I could pretend that it wasn't real. That the whole thing was a mistake, a lie, some cruel trick to finally fling me into madness. But there was no escape, no denial, no chance of error. Haruhi had wished for not only Asahina, Koizumi and Nagato, but me as well.

Now I couldn't take my eyes off my phantom doppelganger as he walked over to the window where Haruhi sat. She was still staring out at the stars, oblivious to her creations as he or was it I, leant against the sill. He gave her a tender smile at her and for a moment her smile seemed to broaden. But when Haruhi turned to look, all the starlit club members blew away, leaving her alone in the club room.

"Tomorrow I'll find some real club members," Haruhi said to the empty room. Before adding with a little less confidence, "I'm sure of it."

With those words, the memory ended and the whole image faded into darkness.

I stood open-mouthed as I looked at the void around me for resolution, but there wasn't any.

"What the hell was that!" I demanded of Nagato. But as always, her only answer was infuriating silence as she avoided my glare.

"Kyon, please don't get angry," pleaded Asahina.

"Seriously," I snapped. "You expect me to be calm after finding out that I was cooked up by Haruhi's screwed up imagination?"

"Do you think I'm happy about it, we're in the same boat too," squeaked Asahina. Before adding in a quieter tone, "I mean, I guess I suspected that we might be, but to see it happen, was well…"

She trailed off and Koizumi stepped forward. "This isn't the time for arguments and incriminations," he stated. "We need to focus on working together to figure all this out."

"Oh, here it comes," I sneered. "Of course, you knew it all along and no doubt have a big speech prepared."

Koizumi's eyes narrowed for a moment and his jaw tensed. But he only sighed and said, "like Miss Asahina, I had considered that we were creations of Miss Suzumiya. But I had always considered you separate from her machinations, even if I could never figure out quite how. Though looking back, it does explain how she was able to change you from a boy to a girl and back again."

"I also noticed several smaller changes to you Kyon," added Asahina. "Your personality often differed between worlds, however why Miss Suzumiya would do so is yet another mystery."

"Well, I think I've got a pissed off personality today," I snapped. "But right now, I'd rather get this mess sorted out, does anyone have any idea how?"

Koizumi looked at the silent Nagato and shrugged as he said, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Is there nothing here that might explain all this," I asked the darkness. "Nothing earlier that might tell us why this all happened?"

I looked at Nagato until she eventually answered. "You must understand Kyon, that any further investigation will be entirely within Suzumiya's mind. It may not seem it, but I am having to fight her to uncover these memories. Any further attempts may cause lasting damage to her psyche and even the universe itself."

"I don't care," I snarled. "Just show me whatever you've got."

"Very well," replied Nagato and raised her hands to the void.

Haruhi's scream echoed through the darkness and my heart pulled tight. My resolve began to falter as an image materialised like a mirror shattering in reverse. Asahina and Koizumi's faces were etched with fear as a place almost a dark as the void it replaced, formed around us.

A frozen moment that took me a moment to recognise, even though I'd been there many times before. It was the sport's field at North High, shrouded deep in the twilight of Tanabata. Lit only by the moon and stars high above, two shining brightly on either side of the Milky Way. The angle of the scene was strange, as it only seemed to cover a cone of existence spreading out from a central point. Here there was a line painter, leaving long looping lines on the grass and pulled by a pair of disembodied hands.

As I studied them, I realised they were a girl's hands, delicate and slender, despite the stains of white paint. A strange piece of yellow ribbon hung in the air, but meant that this could only be one person. We were seeing this moment from Haruhi's own point of view and this could only be her ritual message to the heavens.

In the distance, the school building was dark and foreboding as it loomed over us. All apart from a single room, shining bright like a lighthouse in the gloom. A place I knew as the home of Literature Club and the SOS Brigade.

On the field, Nagato studied the stars, while Asahina walked the lines, trying to trace the message. Koizumi stood in the distance, investigating something in a way that made me walk over for a closer look. At first, I thought I saw myself as a middle schooler, then it flickered and became me as high school student. As I approached the figure jumped again, never settling on one form. Becoming Koizumi, then Asahina, then Nagato and even Haruhi herself. It shifted back to me, jumping between ages and outfits in rapid succession.

For a second I thought I saw another figure and Koizumi's puzzled noise seemed to agree with me. We both looked closer, watching the faces flick past trying to get another glimpse. It flashed past again, but it was too fast and my head was starting to spin from the constant motion.

"Nagato," I called without taking my eyes away. "Is there any way of slowing this down?"

She walked over and gazed at the shifting figure. The flicking beginning to slow and gaining us a clearer view of each variation. All the frozen faces watching and smiling at the lines being drawn upon the field. The mysterious figure appeared again, making Koizumi and I cry out, before it was lost again.

"Go back, go back," I said quickly, waving a hand.

Nagato obeyed and the order started to reverse. At the same moment, there was a heart-rending cry that seemed to come from all around us. Haruhi's wail made me grit my teeth, as finally, the strange figure came into view. But to my dismay, there was nothing to see.

It was only a silhouette, a black void in the dark blue of the night time world. I moved around it, peering closely, trying to find any clue to its identity, but there was nothing. Despite that, something about the figure made me feel angry, making my face twist into a snarl. Even though it had no form, everything about it was loathsome, making me want to rip to shreds just for existing.

"Who the hell is this?" I demanded of the others. "Show me their face."

"I am unable to," said Nagato. "There is no visual data regarding that creature."

"What do mean, there's no data?" I said with an incredulous snarl.

"She means that Miss Suzumiya does not remember," stated Koizumi. "All the memories of that, that thing, have been erased and buried beneath the faces of the four of us."

"I don't believe that," I snapped. "Somewhere someone knows!"

"No Kyon," Asahina said. "In this place, if Miss Suzumiya doesn't remember or has chosen to forget. Then it's gone for good and all that's left is that frightful shadow."

"To hell with you," I cried in frustration. "We're staying here until I find out what that thing is."

I lunged at the shadow, but my fist only passed through it. Haruhi gave an agonising scream and the shadow vanished. Disappearing beneath our alternating figures, flickering so fast that they blurred together. The whole world around us shattered, leaving only the faint light from the club room. Which held on for a moment longer before fading into the darkness. We were left, confused in the void, searching about for a solution and finding only our own clueless faces.

"Is there nothing else," I demanded. "No other memories from that time, say something even earlier."

"No, we are pushing the limits of Suzumiya's mind as it is," replied Nagato. "Anything else has been forgotten, either through the passage of time or on purpose."

"What about later then," I said with a groan of exasperation. "What happened after all that with ghosts and wishes?"

"I'm not sure Miss Suzumiya can take much more," said Asahina.

"After everything she's put us through, I'm sure she can hang on one more minute," I snapped. Before rounding on Nagato and demanding, "show me what happened next."

Nagato seemed to consider the issue for a moment, then nodded. Touching the void another image appeared, only this one was considerably more normal. It simply showed my usual classroom at North High, where I was relaxing in my usual spot by the window. Behind me, Haruhi sported a mischievous smile, ready to launch on another adventure. But there was something off about the image and it took me a moment to realise what it was. The whole thing was a painting, not the clear photograph of a memory.

"Is there anything more to this moment Miss Nagato," asked Koizumi. His face etched with a puzzled expression that matched my own.

Nagato started to work and the painting zoomed out a little, revealing a drawing board. She tried again but there seemed to be some resistance as Haruhi screamed, "No!"

Haruhi's screams and pleas for mercy were deafening, but Nagato kept on pushing. The cries of torment wanted me to make it stop despite my rage, but at the same time, I needed to know the truth. With a particularly loud wail, the whole image snapped back to reveal a darkened room. A small apartment lit only by a desk lamp and the lights of the city outside.

The painting of the classroom lay amongst a sea of other drawings, that portrayed us on various escapades. Their bright colours contrasting with the grim apartment, that swam in empty cans and takeout boxes. The darkness not quite hiding the dusty shelves filled with manga, movies and games.

Alone by the window knelt a woman, probably in her thirties. She gazed out at the sky where two stars shone brightly. Grasping crumpled pieces of coloured paper in her hands, as if in prayer. I didn't need to see her tear-streaked eyes to know that it was Haruhi, even with the added years my heart knew it was her. She was pleading to the stars, begging Vega and Altair to grant her wish.

In the distance, I could still hear the real Haruhi crying and my heart sank, the anger I held from before crumbling. I looked at a large painting above the drawing board, a striking image of myself with a warm smile and sighed. I reached out to touch the adult Haruhi, but as I did so everything began to disintegrate.

I looked in panic at the others, but they were beginning to distort and flicker. The dark room ripped apart and I found myself spiralling into the void. A distant light formed below me and I raised my hands to shield my eyes as it raced upwards. Growing and growing, it engulfed me and then suddenly, I was staring straight into Haruhi's face.

Her eyes were wild as sweat beaded down her forehead. Panting, she yanked the cluster of electronics from my head, making a crackle of pain arc through my brain. I could feel Haruhi pulling at the straps the held my arms and legs, followed by the sweet relief as they came undone. But the fog in my mind meant my limbs would barely move and it took some mental fortitude just to force my head upright.

"Come on Kyon, we have to get out of here," cried Haruhi as she undid the last strap. She wasn't going to wait for me to get my bearings and I found myself being roughly hauled to my feet. Half carrying, half dragging, Haruhi lifted me off the bed and charged for the door. I tried to make her stop, but Haruhi was having none of it and we burst into the corridor. Until my dead weight became too much for her and we crashed to the floor in an untidy pile.

I lay face down, half on top of Haruhi, trying to force my limbs to obey. She pulled herself out and threw me onto my back, both of us winded from the fall. She pulled herself up and looked at me dead in the eyes, so close that I couldn't look away.

"Kyon, I need you to get it together," said Haruhi desperately. "Please, we have to get away from this place."

There was the bang of a door opening and we both looked towards it. A chill ran through me as a dark shadowy figure emerged and slunk slowly towards us. It was the same shadow that I'd seen in Haruhi's mind and now it was bearing down on us. The corridor's shadows growing until they became more of the nightmarish figures.

Haruhi grasped my cheeks and pulled my face to hers. "Please Kyon," she begged. "I need you."

For the first time in my life and quite possibly lives, I saw that Haruhi was absolutely terrified. Her panic filled eyes jumping between me and the approaching shadow. It was then a strange sensation surged through me like her fear was somehow giving me energy. My blood suddenly felt like it was pumping harder, filling my limbs with power. With a new found determination I pushed myself to my feet and pulled Haruhi to hers.

Looking back, the shadowy figures gained macabre smiles, as they edged towards us. The door beside us starting to shake, buckling as something thumped against it. Before exploding open to reveal more nightmares, filling the world with darkness.

Not waiting for Haruhi to react, I grabbed her wrist and tore off down the corridor. As more shadows emerging from other classrooms behind us, slowly bearing down on us like a dark wave. I readied myself to hit the stairs at high speed, but as I turned the corner I saw something was seriously wrong.

It was just another corridor, stretching out in front of me. Not waiting to ponder the problem, I raced off down it, still pulling Haruhi behind me. But the hall kept going, endless club rooms on one side, windows on the other. The view showing an endless grey fog, which swallowed everything in the outside world. But we kept on going, the shadow always chasing us, the corridor leading on forever.

Because what it was, was clearly a nightmare. Haruhi's incredible power turning the world into a terrifying dream. Running would not get us out of this, but then neither would be being captured. Somewhere inside of me, I knew that the shadow would pull Haruhi into a depth of despair, that she'd never wake from.

Staggering to halt, I doubled over as a stitch raced up my legs. But Haruhi raced on, pulling me with her in a series of stumbles that eventually forced her to stop.

"Come on Kyon," pleaded Haruhi. "This is no time for messing around."

She pulled at my arm incessantly, though I would not budge. "Where are we going, exactly," I said trying to catch my breath. "Because we seem to have been running for ages."

Haruhi looked about with wide eyes, as if only now realising something was amiss. "I don't know," she stammered. "We've just got to get out of here."

As she tugged at my arm, I realised that Haruhi was now in a blind panic. We'd never escape if all she was thinking about was running, without any plan we'd be trapped in this place forever. I yanked hard on her arm and pulled Haruhi to face me, her eyes looking straight into mine. The sudden close contact between us seemed to snap Haruhi from her madness, even if I lost my train of thought too.

Taking a deep breath, I said, "we need to think of our way out of this and work out our route home. Can you picture the stairs down Haruhi, can you remember where they are?"

Haruhi blinked and took a step back, looking at me incredulously. "Of course I can, they're right there," She said pointing down the corridor.

Lo and behold, as I looked past her, I saw the hallway now had an ending. I breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk quickly towards the miraculous stairwell. Haruhi skipped ahead and gave me another incredulous look as if the stairs had always been there. She mounted them and I quickly followed, thankful to be finally making progress.

But I spoke too soon, for as we rounded the third turn of the stairs a noise made us look up. Above us, the shadow had caught up, breaking like a wave over the lip of the first flight. Haruhi started running and I didn't wait to argue, jumping down the flights after her. But by the time we rounded the seventh turn, it was clear Haruhi's panic had overtaken her again.

I risked a glance over the rail and almost fainted from the sight. The staircase now plunged down into the infinite or towered upwards to an impossible height. With the shadows still coming down, I looked about for an exit. But all the corridors leading off the stairs had vanished, leaving only the descent. Haruhi was making serious headway over me now, leaping down the stairs and I would lose her if I didn't try to catch up.

Yelling after Haruhi, I tried to take the stairs like she did. But my ankles weren't up to it and soon I was limping breathlessly after her. I called to Haruhi to stop, but she refused and kept on running at full pelt.

It seemed futile, but still, I shouted, "How long till we get to the foyer?"

But it didn't see any immediate change so I, just had to keep on going and hoping for a miracle. I was descending blindly now, focusing only on trying to catch Haruhi and keeping ahead of the shadow. Doubled over, I didn't see Haruhi until I almost crashed into her, snatching a glimpse of her as I stumbled past. My legs confused at the ground suddenly being flat and I hammered into the wall.

"What the hell took you so long," Haruhi demanded as she stood there with hands on hips. "We're here dummy."

I looked up, swaying slightly as I saw the dim light glowing through a great curved wall of glass. It shone on the rows of lockers that occupied the main entrance and was blissfully welcome. Automatically I staggered towards my locker, realising only then that I was already wearing my outdoor shoes. But my moment of reprieve was broken, as I felt the air around me darken. Making me turn to look and see only a huge shadowy wall rising over me.

I instinctively raised my hands to protect myself, but they only sank into the darkness. The abomination pulling me in and my mind became engulfed by its terrifying thoughts. A predatory hunger to consume and corrupt, a desire to destroy anything pure in the world. Everything fell into despair and I struggled to break free, my hands searching desperately for aid.

In a blinding white flash, I saw Haruhi silhouetted in the light that burst through the now open main doors. The shadow recoiled and I felt its grip on me weaken. Forcing my fingers free of the nightmare's embrace and I felt a warm hand grab hold.

With a feral cry of determination, Haruhi pulled me to freedom and we both ran for the door. Bursting into the bright sunlight and a beautiful touch of a light breeze. I felt the monster's filth being cleansed from me, by the serenity of the outside world. The feeling bringing a tear to my eye as I tried to get my breath back.

"Don't you dare do that again," came a cry and I suddenly felt fists hitting my arm. Haruhi was pummelling me with rage as she said, "I thought I'd lost you to that thing."

I caught her fist and she stopped. I smiled at the tears in corners of her eyes and said, "don't worry I won't."

Haruhi looked at my hand engulfing hers with surprise, before snatching it back. "Good," she said with indignation. "You're too good a minion to be lost to a low-level monster like that."

I sighed and looked back at the school. At the windows, I could see the shadow raging, but clearly afraid to come into the sunlight. If that thing was low level, I did not want to see what the final boss looked like.

I looked towards the club room and wondered what had happened to the others. Whether they had been consumed, escaped or were even still plugged into that machine. But there was nothing I could do for them because there was no way in hell I was going back. My priority right now was getting Haruhi back home safe and sound. A desire so strong that I had to wonder whether it was really mine at all.

But now wasn't the time to ponder such things, we needed to get out of here. So with a shrug, I started to walk towards the gate with Haruhi quickly falling into step. The fog was only faint now, but I still felt uneasy. All signs of the battle that had raged here mere hours ago had vanished, but so had everyone else in this world. There were no cars on the roads, nor people walking the pavements. The skies were not only clear of planes but also birds and any sounds of life.

But the most unsettling silence was from Haruhi. Her normal constant declarations, replaced with thoughtful melancholy that seemed to overshadow everything. Maybe once her spirits lifted, things might return to normal, but I had no idea how to do that. I had my own problems to think about, more troubles than I thought possible. But still it felt that the most important thing here was Haruhi, but what could I, a mere creation do to help her?

We kept walking in silence until we reached Haruhi's house, in a time that seemed like nothing at all. But I could no longer tell if that was because of the atmosphere or simply from Haruhi wishing it that way.

Her house was quiet and I hoped it was only because Haruhi's parents were at work, but I knew it was something deeper. The state of the world was making everything feel vague and insubstantial. Though I wasn't sure if Haruhi felt it too, she was still clearly uneasy as I was welcomed inside.

Despite me refusing, Haruhi insisted on making me something to eat. But I couldn't tell you whether it was lunch or dinner, the strange atmosphere blocking any sense of time. I checked my phone, but it was dead and the clock on a shelf by the television had no hands. The living room felt normal, but when I looked closely at the photos dotted about, the details seemed to swim. The vague shapes suggested images of Haruhi and her parents, but I couldn't tell you what they actually portrayed.

Haruhi looked at me a little funny as she returned from the kitchen, probably wondering why I was being so nosy. We ate in near silence, the only sounds being the click of chopsticks and my own appreciative noises. Haruhi's cooking was delicious as always, but I already knew that or did I?

As I noticed Haruhi watching me eat intently, I realised that for her this was the first time I'd tasted her cooking. The memories of previous iterations floating to the surface of my mind, recalling many different dishes and occasions. Sometimes sitting at Haruhi's house, other times in the club room, but every morsel delicious. As I thought back to those impossible memories I had a second realisation, my mind was fixed.

Well maybe fixed was the wrong word, since I was still recalling things no normal person should. But rather than my memories being random, exploding into my consciousness before vanishing. I could now recall them by focusing or at the least feel them riding on my emotions. Whether Nagato had intended to or not, our experience in the machine had at least brought some order to my mind.

I tried to focus on the table, on the food trying to see the other times I had sat here. Dishes flickering in and out, as other versions of Haruhi moved about. Occasionally I'd see Koizumi, Asahina and Nagato, but it was hard work keeping these memories in focus. Rapidly I felt myself getting tired and a headache started to form.

"Is everything okay," asked Haruhi, snapping me back to the present.

I looked at her and smiled. "I'm fine, just spacing out," I said. "It's been a long day." The troubled look reappeared on her face and I asked, "Haruhi, about earlier…"

"It's late, so I'm just going to go take a shower, then head to bed," cut in Haruhi. "Do you mind clearing up?"

Haruhi's expression said that she didn't want to talk about it and that in itself was worrying. But I felt this was the wrong time to push her and simply said, "sure thing," Before adding, "It was delicious by the way."

Her smile was half-hearted as a light blush tinged her cheeks. But Haruhi only nodded in thanks as mounted the stairs, her mind already lost in thought. I sighed, then carried the dishes over to the sink and began to wash up. Looking out of the window into the night-shrouded garden, puzzled at how quickly the day had gone. Had Haruhi wanted it to be and so it had happened or maybe I'd just lost track of time.

Trying to decide what in my crazy world was caused by Haruhi and what was just normal weirdness. I soon realised was going to be a one-way ticket to the madhouse, if they even existed here. So, it would probably be best to let things slide and deal with the more immediate problems of dirty bowls. But my life wasn't that easy unfortunately, as I then saw three faces appear at the kitchen window.

I frowned at them, insisting on finishing the dishes before I headed over to the patio door and gently slid it open. The robot, teacher and weary teenager that greeted me genially. At least proving that some things had returned to normal. Even if that was a somewhat subjective term, considering how different they had been inside the machine. As I thought about their previous selves, phantom images started to form, but I shook them away.

"I see you're experiencing the same phenomena we are," said Koizumi with his usual knowing smile.

"At least something positive came out of that mess," I said, glancing towards the stairs. "For all the good it does us."

"I am glad you are well," said Nagato. "You were disconnected rather suddenly and I was concerned about any side effects."

"I'm fine," I replied. "It's Haruhi I'm worried about."

"How is she," asked Asahina. "You two left in such a hurry and then those things appeared." Drifting off as her face blanched at the memory.

"Very quiet and unsettled," I said grimly and their expressions showed equal concern. "To be honest, I think right now it would be best if you three weren't here. The last thing she needs is to get shaken up again and you making those shadows come back."

"Indeed," said Koizumi. "Though need I remind you, that you were the one that pushed Miss Suzumiya into recalling those memories."

The truth was like a punch straight to my guts and looked with remorse back towards the stairs. "I know," I said. "Which is why it's my job to help Haruhi through all this."

"Kyon, you don't have to shoulder all this yourself," said Asahina. "Finding out all that about yourself, about where you came from, that must have been a tremendous shock."

"I'll be fine," I snapped. "You guys worry about keeping the world from falling apart, I'll deal with Haruhi."

"They are one and the same," pointed out Nagato. "Miss Suzumiya is the cause and this world is the consequence,"

"I know, I know," I said dismissively. "I mean you're the ones with superpowers, you deal with any crazy things that happen. I'll focus on getting Haruhi back to normal or as close to normal as she ever gets."

"Very well," said Asahina before anyone else could differ. "I think Miss Suzumiya looks to you to keep her grounded, that may even be why she created you in the first place."

"I don't want to think about why I was created," I snapped. "Let's just…"

I heard a door upstairs open and close, making me immediately cut off my sentence. Looking towards the stairs I saw Haruhi slowly descend, towelling her hair as she went. She eyed me curiously and said, "Is everything okay?"

I looked towards the partially open door and saw that the others had vanished. Sliding the glass closed I said, "nothing, just thought I heard something outside."

Haruhi walked over and peered into the dark garden. Standing so close to me that I could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo. Only to shrug and say, "it was probably a cat or something."

"Probably," I agreed, but I pulled the long curtains shut to be sure.

"I'm sure everything will be fine now," Haruhi said in a voice that didn't sound a hundred percent convinced. Especially when she suddenly wrinkled her nose and stepped back. Exclaiming, "actually the only dangerous thing around here is you, jeez you stink!"

I pulled at my collar with embarrassment, acutely aware of how sweaty I was. All the running I'd done at school, not to mention the strain of a world gone mad, had done a number on my uniform.

"Do mind if I use your shower then," I asked. Suddenly feeling very dirty and disgusting.

"Yes, yes, please do" exclaimed Haruhi, giving me a push towards the stairs.

Truth be told, if I'd been at home I wouldn't have fussed about my unclean state. But seeing Haruhi grin again as she bodily shoved me in the direction of the bathroom, made it worth it. Not truly happy until she had hurled me in and slammed the door.

With a shrug, I undressed, climbed in and I was amazed at how good it felt. I had too many worries for them to be washed away, but it did make them feel better. I just stood there for a while enjoying the beat of the water on my head and shoulders.

I wondered how many times I had taken a shower here, how often Haruhi and I had been close enough for it to happen. While I had better control over these prior memories, it wasn't like taking a photo album off a shelf. I could pull them into my mind, but they soon fluttered off like butterflies, leaving only a feeling behind.

I tried to focus on a memory of this bathroom, of this shower and suddenly felt a sensation that I wasn't alone. Flickering through the falling water I saw a crown of slick dark brown hair and I looked down. Meeting Haruhi's eyes gazing back up at me, wearing her billion-gigawatt smile, and nothing else.

"What in the hell are you looking at?" demanded a voice from outside the shower.

I let out a yelp of surprise and automatically covered myself. Spinning around, I saw another Haruhi through the steam and blinked a few times to make sure that she was real. Dismayed to see that she was, I yelled, "well, what the hell are doing in here?"

"Don't be such a prude Kyon, it's not like you're the first guy I've seen naked," said Haruhi nonchalantly. "I have a father you know."

Though she was trying to blasé about the situation, Haruhi wasn't looking directly at me. Instead, she gazed resolutely down the bathroom towards the sink. Though the growing blush on her cheeks stated that she had already seen enough. I found my eyes tracing their way down her pyjama clad body, recalling the girl I had seen in the shower only a moment ago. Quickly I shook the thought away before it had time to grow and I was glad when Haruhi turned away.

With a sigh, she threw a towel over the top of the shower door and placed some clothes upon the sink. "You can sleep in some of my Dad's pyjamas, they should fit," Haruhi said over her shoulder. "Now hurry up, you've been in there for ages."

I let out a deep breath as Haruhi left the bathroom and leaving me feeling a little relieved. I hadn't realised I had been here that long, but my mind had been wandering so much I'd clearly lost track of time. I was going to have to be careful with exactly what memories I dredged up if I was going to keep a clear head around Haruhi.

Towelling off, I looked with dismay at the pyjamas Haruhi had left for me. The horrendous pattern meaning that Mr Suzumiya either had an eccentric taste or that Haruhi had chosen them especially. But I didn't feel brave enough to face her in only my underwear and I couldn't really sleep in my uniform. So with reluctance, I threw on the pyjamas and tried to look dignified, despite them being far too big for me.

Entering Haruhi's bedroom, it surprised me how normal it was. The posters on the walls, the desk, the bookcase and the pastel colours. Accompanied the feeling that someone had hurriedly tidied up, to make the place feel like any teenage girl's room.

Haruhi was busy straightening out a futon by her bed, settling the question of where I would be sleeping. Once she'd finished, Haruhi caught sight of me and completely failed to hold back her laughter.

"Oh my god, Kyon, I'm so sorry," Haruhi managed between wheezes. "I saw that ridiculous pair and just had to give them to you."

I frowned at her. "and there's me thinking you liked these things," I snapped sarcastically.

"They make you look very adult," replied Haruhi while attempting to sound formal.

"Well at least someone here is being one then," I said with a sour expression.

"Wow they really have, you've gone and turned you into a grumpy old man," replied Haruhi. "Jeez Kyon, I'm only messing around."

She turned dramatically and slid into bed, taking some time trying to get comfortable. I watched Haruhi until she glared at me, pulling the covers up to her armpits and then folding her arms on top.

"You can stand there sulking all night if you want," Haruhi added grumpily. "But can you at least turn the light off."

"Fine," I said with a sigh and clicked the light cord. "At least you won't be able to see these things in the dark."

I heard Haruhi scoff in the darkness, before she said, "you're such a child."

I lay on the futon and pulled the covers over me. "First I am an adult, then I'm a child," I grumbled half to myself. "Decide which one of those you want me to be?"

But I found my words trailing off as I realised how literal that was for Haruhi, she really had decided who I was. But what was it that she truly wanted me to be; a rival, a companion, a lover. Today I had seen that I'd been all three and more, yet Haruhi still was not happy.

The only sound in the darkened bedroom was Haruhi's breathing, which was still too strong for her to be asleep. In the still of the night, I stared at nothing, losing myself in thought. Gazing at a thousand glowing stickers that had been stuck to the ceiling above me. A myriad of stars, planets and UFOs, spread out like a luminous night sky.

Two large stars glowed brighter than the rest in the centre of the ceiling and I wondered what they meant to her. Was the Haruhi lying on the bed next to me, looking at them and wishing the same things that he former selves had done? Did she even know about those parts of her past or were they lost to history with only these two stars remaining?

"Haruhi," I asked her in a poor attempt to sound casual. "If you could wish for anything what would it be?"

There was a long pause, but the startled noise Haruhi made told me she thinking of an answer. "I don't know," started Haruhi vaguely. "Just to have fun I guess."

I waited for her to elaborate, but it did not seem to be forthcoming. So, I pushed a little harder and asked, "what about the future, do you have dreams about what you want to do after school?"

"No, not really," replied Haruhi, though her voice sounded uncertain and evasive. "I mean who cares about that boring adult stuff, wouldn't you rather be out enjoying our youth while we still can?"

"Well yeah, I suppose so," I said uncertainly. "But we've all got to grow up sometime."

"Oh, I know that," said Haruhi sourly. "But we can deal with that later, we should be living in the now, Kyon."

But that now had lasted well, not even Nagato knew how long. Centuries, millennia, all those worlds stretching off into what seemed like infinity. How long had we been trapped here and was there any chance of freedom?

"That's all very well, but there's stuff I want to do after school," I said, determined to push on. "Seeing the world, hopefully getting an interesting job, maybe even have a family."

I thought I heard Haruhi make a noise at the end of my sentence. "What's brought all this on," she stammered. "You've never seemed interested in the future before?"

My words caught in my throat for a moment, sensing that my answer had to be handled delicately. "I guess how precious life can be, has been playing on my mind a bit," I said cautiously. "Especially after all the scary stuff that happened back at school."

The bed creaked as Haruhi turned over and her arm flopped out over me. I watched her delicate fingers in the silence until I heard Haruhi murmur, "yeah, back at school."

It was clear what had happened was bothering her, but I had no idea what she had experienced inside that machine. Knowing what to say to her was difficult, with the constant fear of making it worse looming over me. Along with the nagging reminder that I forced those memories to the surface, when I was the one to claim to be on her side. But I needed to know the truth or at least get an idea of the depth of the problems that haunted her.

"Haruhi," I asked tentatively, but there was no response. So, with foreboding haunting my heart I said, "did you see anything while we were in that thing. You know after you were knocked out?"

I wasn't sure if Haruhi would answer, but eventually, I heard, "Not much, only a really horrible dream."

I think it was meant to sound resigned, but Haruhi's voice cracked a little as she spoke. Cautiously I asked, "what kind of dream."

"It was so weird," Haruhi started, but her voice caught. "I was trapped in this huge dark room, surrounded by thousands of girls, all of whom looked just like me. Some were wearing different outfits and stuff, but every one was standing there staring at me."

"Just staring at you," I asked.

"Well it almost felt like they were glaring at me," answered Haruhi. "So, I ran, pushing through them all and trying to find you, but I couldn't. I was running for ages, sometimes alone, other times surrounded by different crowds of identical people. But all them just staring at me silently, like they were accusing me of something."

Her voice was starting to shake with the fear of the memory and she took a moment to steady it. "But I knew you were close, Kyon," Haruhi continued. "It was like I could feel you everywhere, but couldn't see you. I felt so lonely, even with those huge crowds around me, so I wished and wished for you to appear."

I could hear the pleading in Haruhi's voice and it pulled at my heart. Her hand gripped into a fist, before relaxing as she said with a touch of joy, "and then you did."

But that happiness guttered out as Haruhi whispered, "but it wasn't you. It was like a toy, a puppet that began to dance this ghastly jig. Along with others that looked like Koizumi, that Nagato thing and Miss Asahina."

"So, I grabbed the puppet of you and tried to run away," said Haruhi frantically. "But I got caught up in its strings and suddenly it pulled me away, spinning like I was in a tornado. Coming to of all places the school field in the middle of the night. I shook the puppet, hoping it would somehow become you. But instead, it transformed into a horrible monster. A shadow with a horrible smile, just like the ones that chased us at North High."

Haruhi was becoming breathless from her recounting and I was verging on asking her to stop. But she was in full flow as she started to thrash about on the bed, re-enacting it physically, as well as verbally. "I fought against the monster, trying to get away. But it just smiled cruelly as it tried to engulf me and rip away everything that was me. I thought I could see a light in the distance and I was sure that if I could get there I would be safe."

"Seeing that light made me feel stronger and I managed to break free for a moment," continued Haruhi. "But I was still caught up in the puppet's strings. Which pulled me back and I prepared myself to fight again. Only instead of a monster, there was another me, looking, unbearably sad. I reached out to her, but she suddenly started to age. Rapidly becoming a middle-aged woman and then an impossibly ancient hag."

"Then the crone suddenly launched herself at me, clawing my face as I fought with everything I had." cried Haruhi. "Right then all I could think about was escaping, getting away from that nightmare. Returning to a normal life, a normal world and I wished with every fibre of my being. Then as I screwed up my eyes, I was suddenly awake, entangled in that machine."

"I know it was only a dream," Haruhi added finally. "But it all felt so vivid and real that I feel like I'm actually going crazy."

I waited, but that was all Haruhi wanted to say, her breathing now coming in laboured gasps. I reached up and gently stroked her outstretched hand. Caressing her fingers and feeling the warmth that ran through them. Trying to think of something to say to comfort her and ease her heart.

There was creak and suddenly Haruhi's face appeared above me in a mass of hanging hair. I felt something wet hit my cheek and I realised there were tears in her red-rimmed eyes. She must have realised it too and quickly rubbed her eyes, though it did little to hide her obvious distress.

"You do believe me Kyon," Haruhi said. "I'm not going crazy am I, it was something to do with that weird machine."

I reached up and stroked away a new tear from her face. "No, you're not," I said gently. "I experienced something similar in that thing." I didn't elaborate on my own journey though. I just couldn't find the strength to tell Haruhi the truth of what I and the others had undergone.

"What do you think they wanted," Haruhi asked. "Why did they stick us in that contraption?"

"Answers," I replied. "But I'm not sure they found any or at least not the ones they were looking for."

"I just wish I understood why they're all so interested in me," said Haruhi. "I'm no one special."

I considered whether her knowing the truth would really set her free or doom us all to some new layer of hell. Certainly, she was in no fit state for the facts right now and I had no idea if there was any way to explain it all to her.

"I think I know why," I said with a smile, tenderly brushing Haruhi's hair behind her ear. "But it is too late for such talk and we're both too tired. I'd say sweet dreams, but I think we've had enough of those for today."

Haruhi's expression grew troubled, but I forced myself to turn away and signal that it was time to sleep. I was so focused on ignoring Haruhi, that I hadn't realised she had moved until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned back to see Haruhi sliding under the covers next to me, her face bowed as she tried to hide her expression.

"Kyon is it okay if I…." Haruhi started as she cuddled up beside me.

"Yeah, it's fine," I stammered. Trying to keep my mind clear as she rested her head on my shoulder and slid an arm across my chest. I put my own arm around her, it wasn't like I was going to refuse her, regardless of the situation between us.

"You are real, aren't you Kyon," Haruhi asked. Her voice muffled by the material of the hideous pyjamas.

"Well I'm here, aren't I," I answered and gently stroked her hair. "Let's just get some sleep, you never know, we might have a normal school day tomorrow for a change.

Haruhi pulled close and murmured, "that would be nice." But soon I felt her breathing slow as she sank into what was hopefully a peaceful sleep. I stared up at the two glowing stars on the ceiling and wondered what it meant to be real.

Somehow, I had been born from the wish of this eccentric school girl, but did that mean I wasn't real. In this topsy-turvy world that Haruhi had created, the division between fact and fiction felt rather arbitrary. All I knew now was that Haruhi had created me for a reason, I just had to figure what that reason was.

But a niggling doubt conflicted with my desire to just hold Haruhi like this and keep her safe. Was this world really what was best for her, was this fantasy actually making her happy. If so, why did she always reset the world, why was Haruhi never satisfied with how her story played out?

I looked down at Haruhi as her body slowly rose and fell. Wondering what on Earth I should do, with the goddess asleep in my arms?

 _"I wish every day was just filled with fun and happiness, is that so wrong?"_


	9. Chapter 9

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 9**

* * *

 _"Let's just get things back to normal and then, then everything will be fine."_

* * *

I awoke with a gasp, as if all the air had rushed into my lungs in one gulp. My fingers gripping the edge of the desk in front of me, like a sailor lost at sea.

Wait a minute, my desk?

My mind raced as my eyes searched wildly for clues to my situation. Last night I'd been asleep with Haruhi in my arms, comforting her after a rather tumultuous day. But now, I was back in the classroom at North High, sitting at my usual desk.

Sitting bolt upright, I looked around the room. Taking in the bright summer's morning, as the class chatted to each other at the start of another normal day. At the front, Ryoko Asakura giggled at something one of the other girls said and then gave me a friendly smile. Everything seemed so normal that it was unnerving, so I turned to search for the most abnormal thing in the room.

Haruhi was dozing in a patch of sunlight, her head resting on crossed arms. Sensing my gaze, Haruhi soon awoke, stretching out and yawning like a cat. Then her eyes jerked open and scanned the room until they focussed back on me.

"Why are you giving me that look," barked Haruhi, her cheeks flushing a little. "Were you having some weird dream or something?"

A chill raced up my spine, it hadn't all been a dream had it or had the world reset again?

No, I could remember everything. My memories of previous worlds, thousands of variations stretching into infinity. The terrifying realisation that I was a creation of Haruhi's warped mind, everything. But then, how had I got here and what in the hell had Haruhi done this time?

"Haruhi," I said, stumbling over my phrasing. "Last night we were sleeping, at yours. Do you happen to know, how we got here?"

She blinked for a moment, looking confused. Her expression becoming increasingly disturbed until with a snap, she shook it off. "Don't be ridiculous Kyon," She stammered, her face now scarlet. "Like I'd let you do that. You were no doubt having some perverted dream at your desk, weren't you?"

Punctuating her sentence with a strike from a rolled-up workbook. Forcing me to turn away while I weathered repeated blows to my back as Haruhi hurled abuse in my direction.

Grimacing, I looked about the classroom for clues and at first glance, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. The rest of the class were all chatting and laughing, seeming almost too happy to be at school. Especially Taniguchi, who was having a cheerful conversation with Kunikida like he was having the time of his life. They both saw me and waved, broad grins on faces that seemed wrong somehow. Their smiles too broad, with vacant glassy eyes that gave me the chills.

I realised then, that everyone in the room had the same countenance. Asakura's empty smile giving the urge to run straight for the door. I looked towards it, surveying my escape route and I was thankful when I saw three faces looking back.

Peering around the doorframe; Koizumi, Asahina and Nagato, watched me with cautious gazes. Looking normal for once, only three high school kids that were all very worried. Their lack of empty happy smiles coming as a relief, as it meant the world was insane and not me.

Now that Haruhi had stopped hitting me and resorted to sulking, I started to stand. Planning to go over to them and find out what the hell was going on. But they all shook their heads, motioning me to sit back down. The sound of the school bell broke any argument, so with a sigh, I plonked myself back down and let the lesson begin.

But today's class only amplified the sense that something was wrong. The teacher's voice was impossible to follow, sounding more like a trumpet, than human speech. With the writing on the board reduced to blurred shapes and squiggles. The other students didn't seem to mind though and sat in rapt attention. A concept that used to be inconceivable to Taniguchi, but there he was with gazing in happiness at the board.

The only person who wasn't paying the teacher much attention was, of course, Haruhi. Who swayed behind me, humming a tune of her own devising. I turned to talk to her, but Haruhi glared and motioned that we were still in class. The smack of the teacher's hand against the board emphasizing her point.

Shaking my head as she giggled, I turned back and pretend to pay attention. But as my mind drifted I started to feel another strange sensation. Which was the unnerving feeling of time moving forward a little too fast. The class clock had no hands, but the light from the sun shifted in a noticeable way as I sat there. The natural movement of the classroom jumping every time I blinked.

The bell went again, even though it felt like I'd only been in class for half an hour at the most. I thought that it should be lunchtime, but the teacher announced in a flat voice that it was already the end of the day.

Years and even centuries of this moment caused my body to tense up. Sensing Haruhi's hand reaching around from behind me to grab my tie and dodging in the nick of time. Hoping to go and meet the others, before Haruhi could drag me off on another misadventure.

"Oh no Kyon," Haruhi scolded. "We've got an important meeting in club room now, come on."

I tried to dodge again, but she was faster. Laughing in triumph as she yanked my tie and despite my protests, we were off. Bursting from the classroom and almost bowling over Koizumi as he stood by the doorway. I gave him, along with the accompanying Nagato and Asahina an apologetic look. But Haruhi was already pulling me away, making me stumble.

"Come on you three," called Haruhi over her shoulder. "This meeting concerns the entire Brigade."

I saw the three of them look at each other with a mixture of surprise and fear, then follow. Our quintet moving through the school, following a route that didn't make any sense at all. Before crashing through the door of the club room, where Haruhi finally let go of my tie.

* * *

The club room seemed both different and the same, as I gave it a wary glance while trying to fix my tie. Masks, decorations and photos were stuck to every wall, lit by a sun that had decided to fall to evening. A rack of costumes lay waiting for Asahina, with the shelves piled with books and games for the other two. There was almost too much stuff for the room, with items seeming to phase in and out of each other as I watched.

As Haruhi stood proud at the head of the room, I collapsed into a chair with a groan. My growing sense of dread had spread to the others as they joined me at the table. Their eyes glancing about, all trying to assess the situation.

"Okay everyone, pay attention," announced Haruhi. Making us all look up, hoping to hear an explanation for this sorry mess. "I want to get the message of the SOS Brigade out there, so today we're making posters."

The looks we gave our esteemed leader varied from disappointed to incredulous. But Haruhi didn't seem to notice and kept right on talking as she heaved several rolls of paper onto the table. A pile of assorted stationary following them to roll in all directions.

"Right," continued Haruhi. "I want each of you to create something bold and dynamic, that will wow anyone who sees it."

"Haruhi," I cut in, fed up with all this messing around. "Don't we have more important things to discuss?"

Giving me a puzzled look Haruhi asked, "like what?"

"I suggest we play along for now," whispered a harsh voice in my ear.

I glanced at Koizumi and roughly pulled my sleeve free of his grasp. His frown joined by small nods from both Asahina and Nagato across the table. It seemed like I had already been outvoted, leaving me to sigh as I gave up.

"It's nothing," I said with reluctance, as Haruhi's expression became concerned. "Though I should warn you, I'm no artist."

Haruhi blinked at my sudden change in tone. "That's fine," she said. "As long as you try your best."

The atmosphere in the room became awkward enough for me to grab a sheet of paper and unfurl it. Though I lacked the artistic talent to come up with any ideas of what to draw, I thought it best to at least look busy. The others doing likewise and soon the room rustled to the sounds of pens at work. The only other sound coming from Haruhi as she strolled about the room, giving commands as she went.

There was a familiar tranquillity to our work, soothing despite the strange circumstances. Asahina's brush moving with careful strokes as she created a calligraphic masterpiece. While Nagato's design became abstract and striking, if a little difficult to understand. With Koizumi's work being clean and straightforward, if a little boring. Still, it was a damn sight better than my attempt which lay before me, an offence to the world of graphic design. Drawing a shadow to loom over me and I didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"I'm sorry Kyon," said Haruhi. "But that simply isn't good enough."

"Well, I did warn you that I have no artistic talent," I explained.

I was expecting Haruhi to scoff or even become angry, but instead, she smiled. Leaning in close she said with a hint of menace, "I know you can do it. Just look within yourself, find your muse and I'm sure you'll discover talents you never knew you had."

"I doubt that," I said with a laugh.

"It won't hurt to try Kyon," Haruhi insisted.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "But don't get your hopes up."

But Haruhi was finished with me, waving a dismissive hand and walking off to go and harass Asahina. Meanwhile, I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to picture what I wanted to draw. Coming up with nothing, I stared at the blank sheet of paper and decided to draw some lines at random.

As I drew, I thought I could hear a familiar voice in my mind, telling me where to put each line. My hand moving almost on its own as I zoned out and let myself draw.

I didn't stop until I felt Koizumi leaning over me, looking between the poster and myself. A glance made Nagato and Asahina look over, their faces matching Koizumi's concern. Leading me to look back at my creation and grimace. It was incredible, one of the greatest pieces of design I had ever seen. Drawn and coloured with a level of precision that I was sure was impossible with a human hand.

"See, I told you could do it," announced Haruhi. Grabbing the poster and holding it up with a satisfied smile.

"Haruhi, I don't think," I started. Not sure of how to explain that I hadn't drawn it, because technically I had.

"I don't want to hear it Kyon," dismissed Haruhi. "From now on I want no more negativity in this club or anyone saying they can't when they haven't even tried."

Humming a happy tune, Haruhi stuck the four posters up, then stepped back to admire our handiwork. "Okay everyone, that will do for today," continued Haruhi. "But tomorrow I want you ready and raring for your next assignment."

Then before we could say otherwise, Haruhi gave a final farewell and strode out the door. Leaving the rest of us to stare at each other in confusion, trying to process the day's events.

I gave a tired sigh and stretched before asking, "right, so what in the hell just happened?"

"Why don't you tell us," replied Koizumi with a yawn. "You were the one drawing like a man possessed."

"If you don't mind me saying," added Asahina, resting her head on a hand. "I don't believe I've ever seen you so creative."

I looked to Nagato for an explanation, but she seemed to have zoned out. Her eyelids starting to droop further and further, until she blinked herself awake. "We must assume that Suzumiya's suggestion had some effect on you," Nagato said. "I've suspected she was capable of doing it in the past, but it's never been as clear as now."

"There is definitely something peculiar about the atmosphere here," added Asahina. "It's so relaxed that maybe it made Kyon more suggestible or something like that."

Koizumi swayed in his seat before adding, "I suspect so. Did you notice that Miss Suzumiya didn't enter the room with any art materials, nor acquired any from the locker? Yet she still produced them from nowhere and... " Koizumi stopped and looked with almost drunken confusion at the table. Before continuing with, "… and now they've all disappeared."

We all looked about for the pens and paper that we had all used only moments ago, but they were gone. On the wall, the posters themselves remained, but there was no evidence for their creation.

"It would seem that the world is in a very fluid state," said Koizumi. "With Miss Suzumiya's whims becoming reality at a moment's notice."

"Great," I said, feeling ever so, ever so tired. "When I thought things couldn't get any crazier, they suddenly have."

"We must take care of what we say to her, especially you Kyon," said Nagato. "Reality could descend into chaos if Suzumiya's imagination goes out of control."

"Don't make Haruhi anymore insane than she already is, got it," I said. "But what are we going to do otherwise?"

"We should play along for the time being," said Asahina with half-lidded eyes. Her auburn hair tumbling over the table as she lay her head on her folded arms. "I'm hopeful things will settle down after a while."

Koizumi gave a slow nod and I looked for a response from Nagato. But the nodding of her head was from sleep rather than agreement. Despite that, I found the motion agreeable and felt my own eyes starting to close.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," I drawled, but no one was listening. Asahina gave a light snore as Koizumi rested his head on his chest. Nagato stirred for a moment, seeming to fight the lethargy that filled the room, but lost.

I stretched a final time and the slumped forward. The sweet bliss of sleep overtaking me and embracing me in its entirety.

* * *

The rush of air into my lungs woke me with such a start, my eyes bulged from their sockets. Blazing sunlight leaving me blind as the soft titter of Asakura's laughter reached me. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw my classroom come into view and I groaned with despair.

Everything looked the same as yesterday, as the feeling of déjà vu, created its own déjà vu in my tired brain. Turning, I saw Haruhi peering at me and the feeling of dread became overwhelming.

"Not again," I muttered. Pushing myself from my seat to stumble in desperation towards the door. Heedless of Haruhi calling after me as I was too focused on finding the others to care. Turning into the hallway to breathe a sigh of relief as Koizumi and Asahina rushed towards me.

"The day has repeated itself hasn't it?" I asked. Fearing the answer, that I knew was coming.

They peered past me into the classroom where Haruhi was frowning back. "It feels that way," said Asahina. "But now it's worse than that, this world is far too strange even by Miss Suzumiya's standards."

"We need to investigate the situation before reaching any conclusions," stated Koizumi.

"Oh please," I said. "I think we all know what Haruhi's done. The question is how bad it is and how long have we been stuck here?"

I rolled my eyes at their clueless faces. "Where's Nagato," I asked, looking about. "She's usually the knowledgeable one on this kind of thing."

A nervous cough from behind me made me spin around. Revealing our diminutive companion, who blushed at the sudden attention. Her eyes failing to meet mine as they darted about behind her glasses. The sudden change made me cautious as I said, "how long have you been wearing glasses?"

Nagato took her glasses off in surprise as if she had only then realised they were there. Squinting for a moment, before putting them back on and blinking.

"I'm not sure," Nagato said. "I rushed here the moment I awoke and hadn't even realised I was wearing them."

"What about that Data Entity thingy," I said. "Have you heard from them, because we could do with their help?"

"No," replied Nagato, shaking her head. "I don't believe they exist here, in this world."

I sighed, turning to Koizumi and Asahina to ask, "what about your people?

Their troubled expressions already told me the answer was going to be a negative one. "If time is repeating like this," said Asahina. "There's a good chance that there is no future for me to contact. I was considering leaving a message, then with luck, my superiors could organise a rescue."

"It could be worth a try," I said. "Do have any idea where we should leave it?"

"Well it's a very long shot," Asahina replied. "But your sister might be able to help."

"My sister," I asked puzzled. Realising I was even more exhausted than I thought, as I struggled to picture the annoying brat.

"It's difficult to explain, but she should be able to pass the message on to the right people," replied Asahina. Rummaging through her bag for a pen and paper before asking, "What was her name again?"

The silence that followed that question was so heavy I could hear the beat of my own heart. The pounding increasing as I tried to find an answer. I could picture her face and that irritating voice telling me my phone was ringing. But what was her name?

The distress must have shown on my face as I saw Asahina go pale. "It's okay Kyon, I'm sure we'll remember soon," she said with a tremulous voice. "In the meantime, I'm sure I leave a message for someone else to…to…"

Asahina's stuttered into silence as her eyes went wild in panic. She stumbled backwards and would have fallen if it wasn't for Koizumi's quick reflexes. Looking at him in desperation Asahina stammered, "I can't remember them, Itsuki. My colleagues, my superiors, my family, they're all gone."

A moment of distress flickered over Koizumi's face as he looked down at Asahina. "It would seem we're all affected by this amnesia," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I too am having trouble recalling the other members of my Organisation and it is most troubling."

We all looked back to Nagato, hoping for something that would verify our experience. She squirmed under the attention and said, "I'm trying to recall any details about the Entity. But it only feels like something that I might have read about in a book once. I remember being an interface and how that felt, just not the details."

"Well, I hope you haven't forgotten me," came a voice from behind Nagato. As Asakura wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. "Because I certainly haven't forgotten you, Yuki."

Nagato squeaked as Asakura giggled, but I didn't feel any malice in the embrace. Still, with the class president's happy features, it was a very unsettling scene. Especially when she gave a sweet smile and said, "it's time for class now Kyon. You four have plenty of time..."

Asakura's words came to a jarring halt. Her whole body frozen in place mid-sentence.

I reached out to touch her but snapped my hand back as Haruhi yelled from the classroom. "Yes Kyon, hurry up and get in here. The lesson can't start without you, you know."

"You'd better get in there," said Koizumi, glancing at Asakura.

Nodding in nervous agreement and began to approach the classroom. Only to jump when Asakura suddenly continued, "... for you to have fun with your friends later."

Asakura didn't even notice that Nagato had escaped her embrace. Instead, grabbing my arm in stiff fingers and marching me into the classroom. Sensing that any argument was futile I sighed and let Asakura lead me to my desk. Taking one last look at my clubmates, before the door slammed shut on its own. I slouched back in my chair, rubbing my upper arm and pretending to ignore the glare Haruhi was giving me.

"What was that about?" demanded Haruhi.

"You know," I said with an awkward stammer. "Club stuff."

Haruhi narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "Don't you think as your leader, I would be the one you should ask about such things?"

I could feel nervous sweat beading on my forehead as I tried to dodge the truth. Not the truth had much meaning here, with the fractured nature of our memories. I began to wonder how long it would be until we had no recollection of the worlds that came before. Though I suppose the key issue was what did Haruhi remember, this place stemmed from her mind after all. The school, the SOS Brigade, even me, had all come from there. What would happen to us if Haruhi chose to forget it all and start afresh?

I took a deep breath and said, "we were only running over what we'd done recently. Yesterday we made posters, but what did we do the day before, can you remember?"

There was a pregnant pause before Haruhi started to say, "well we err… we?"

Her face went pale as her eyes lost focus and became dark. As Haruhi wrapped her arms around herself the light seemed to dim. Not only the electric lights of the school but the very sun itself. The shadows in the corners seeming to grow, filling the corners and changing shape.

I shudder went through me as I remembered the nightmare that had pursued us before. Trying to keep my hand steady, I reached out to touch Haruhi's arm. Squeezing her sleeve in a gesture that I hoped felt reassuring.

"Yah, don't touch me!" Haruhi cried, flinging my hand away.

While I may not have reassured her, my action had snapped Haruhi back. The sunlight reaching an eye-watering level of brightness and driving the shadows back.

Looking about in confusion Haruhi regained her composure. "It… it doesn't matter what we did back then," Haruhi stammered. "The SOS Brigade is always about pressing forward into the future."

Her face glowering with a fury that brooked no argument as a glare answered anything I tried to say. Instead, dismissing me with, "anyway, it's time for the lesson to the start."

I felt someone loom over me and a teacher I had never seen before, looked down on me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the clouded grey glasses, but I could tell he wasn't happy. With reluctance, I turned to the front and listened to the unintelligible gibberish. Passing like lightning in a way that felt more like a montage than a lesson.

* * *

All too soon, the bell went to announce that it was time for club. We'd completely skipped lunch, but then I had not felt hungry at all, nor had the need for the bathroom. It seemed we didn't need to sate such basic functions in this screwed up world.

Before the bell had even finished sounding, I shot out of the classroom. Leaving Haruhi behind, desperate to get to the other Brigade members in the club room before her. But after a few corners, I realised I must have taken a wrong turning somewhere. The school corridors becoming an impossible maze that led nowhere near the club room.

In each classroom sat neat motionless rows of students, all with the same blank face. Experimentally I opened a door, but the sight of all those empty faces turning towards me in unison was too much. Sending me bolting for dear life before they had a chance to do anything else.

I must have run blind for ages, not stopping until I ran out of breath. As I tried again to get my bearings, the sound of Haruhi's voice echoed down the corridor. Appearing out of nowhere she said, "there you are Kyon, why are you dawdling around out here?"

"I was err…" I started, but Haruhi wasn't interested. Forcing me to match her step in fear of abandoned in this endless labyrinth.

"We've no time for all that," stated Haruhi. "I want to get started on the SOS Brigade's next big project." There was a pause as we rounded a corner, she announced, "Ah good, you're already here."

Asahina stood with Nagato further up the corridor, clinging to Koizumi's arm. They wheeled around at the sound of Haruhi's voice, staring at us and all looking somewhat worse for wear. They watched our approach in silence, looking at our great leader with apprehension.

"Why are you three waiting out here," Haruhi asked. "You can go in."

Gesturing at the club room door, Haruhi opened it and strode in. By the way, my compatriots were staring at the door, I knew that it hadn't been there a few moments ago. Their eyes looking between it, me and each other with clear unease.

"What happened?" I hissed. Glancing into the club room where Haruhi was sorting out her desk.

"There's no way out," replied Asahina. Her voice squeaking as her eyes went wild with terror.

"What do you mean," I asked. Though I knew by now the answer was always, that Haruhi had happened.

"Once we left you, we wanted to investigate the school and we had hoped the wider world," Nagato explained. Pausing before adding, "but everything went dark for a moment. Then when light returned, the school was an endless maze, with no entrance or exit."

My guilt must have shown as Koizumi narrowed his eyes and said, "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I only," I started. "Well after all our memories problems, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what Haruhi remembers. I didn't think it would cause those shadows to come back."

"No, you never do, think," snapped Koizumi. "How many times do I have to tell you to be careful with what you say around Miss Suzumiya."

"Do you think I want those things to appear," I exclaimed.

Koizumi took a deep breath to calm himself. "Kyon, last time it took all three of our combined powers to fend those things off," he said. with Asahina adding a frightened squeak of ascension. "This time, we are for all intents and purposes, ordinary human beings and will not stand a chance."

"I'm aware of that," I snapped back.

"What are you two arguing about?" Cut in an irritated voice from the club room. I was planning on ignoring Haruhi, but as she shouted, "just get in here." I felt my foot move of its own volition.

Koizumi looked in alarm at his own foot, which now pointed at an alarming angle towards the clubroom door. I felt Nagato bump against me as she lost her footing and Asahina almost knocked Koizumi over.

"Let's just get in there and do whatever she says," hissed Koizumi. Wrenching himself around and striding towards the door, leaving the rest of us to follow. Koizumi took a seat, along with myself and Nagato. While Asahina went to make some tea, as much for herself as for the rest of us.

I was turning to look at Haruhi, when I heard a sudden cry and snapped my head back to see Asahina clad in her maid's outfit. She returned a shaking cup to the table as the hot tea started to spill, needing to take a few deep breaths. Before taking the rest of the tea around the table, Haruhi of course getting hers first. Asahina gave Koizumi and me a wan smile as we thanked her. Then sat down, cradling her own tea in trembling hands and hid her face in her hair.

Haruhi stood and grinned as if nothing was amiss. "Right everyone," she announced. "Today we're…"

"Actually Haruhi, can we not," I cut in. Her complete obliviousness to the situation and to Asahina's faint sobs. To the shell-shocked expressions that marked Nagato and Koizumi, was starting to grate.

I ignored the pain of Koizumi kicking me in the shin under the table and levelled a glare at Haruhi. But her initial surprise, soon shifted to indignance as she glared back at me.

"and do what?" Haruhi asked with more than a hint of menace.

Unfortunately, I hadn't thought that far ahead and Haruhi's growing smile reflected that. Grasping for inspiration, I looked at the world outside. The sun glittering on the windows opposite giving a sudden urge to be out in those rays. Feeling the wind on my face and relaxing amongst the sounds of a summer's day.

Despite the risk, I said in a casual tone, "I just thought it would nice to go outside. It's a lovely day and it feels like we've been cooped up inside for too long."

I forced a smile as Koizumi drove his heel into my toes. Trying to make my request seem as nonchalant as possible while Haruhi considered it. She looked outside for a while, watching the clouds drift overhead and the breeze in the trees.

"Okay then," Haruhi said with a shrug. "Though you'll still be performing the same Brigade duties whether you're out there or in here."

Giving her a casual wave of agreement and Haruhi immediately skipped off out the door. But before I could follow her I was faced by a very angry looking Koizumi.

"What in the hell do think you're doing?" Koizumi snarled.

"Getting us outside," I snapped back.

"I warned you not to mess with things," Koizumi replied. "We've no idea what might happen."

"Well you might be happy following all Haruhi's stupid rules," I exclaimed. "But I'm not."

"Please, we must stay united if we're to get through this," cut in Nagato. "But Kyon's right, we need to expand this world."

Koizumi scoffed, "of course you'd side with him."

"I wasn't picking a side," replied Nagato. "It is merely the most progressive position."

"Miss Asahina what do you think," asked Koizumi, gesturing at the hunched figure.

She looked up, surprised at being pulled into in the argument. Sniffing and wiping her nose, Asahina said, "it would be nice to go out."

Koizumi groaned with exasperation. "Fine then," he said. "But we'd better get after Miss Suzumiya before she does something to make us hurry."

Nodding in tired agreement we stood and made for the door. But as Asahina crossed the threshold her maid outfit vanished without warning. Giving us a brief flash of something pink, before her school uniform replaced it. This was all too much for the girl and her knees buckled under her. Leaving Koizumi and myself to grab Asahina, struggling with her as we followed Nagato. Heading towards the distant Haurhi, who was tapping her foot at the head of the stairs.

* * *

Stepping outside felt amazing, but the reaction from the others was even better. Asahina taking a step away from Koizumi and myself, smiling as the wind lifted her long hair. Nagato took off her glasses and closed her eyes, drawing strength from the sun on her face. I gave Koizumi a satisfied smile as the breeze tousled his hair, making him roll his eyes in response.

"See, I told you it would be worth it," I said.

"As long as Miss Suzumiya doesn't ask for recompense for coming out here," Koizumi replied. "But still, I hadn't realised how much I'd missed this.

Further up Haruhi stood on the edge of a wall, balancing in a precarious fashion while she waited. "Come on you guys," she said. Before pirouetting and leaping off with the grace of a ballerina into a nonchalant walk. Adding, "I don't see what's so exciting out here."

Breaking from our reverie, we followed. Asahina looking refreshed and bright in the sunshine as she chatted with Koizumi. Soon coming to the slope that leads down to the baseball field, where I chose to lay down amongst the cool grass. Haruhi was less relaxed, marching back and forth at the bottom, waiting for our attention. I was every intent on ignoring her, but as always Koizumi had to interrupt my relaxation.

"So, what is the plan for today," he asked with irritating charm.

"Well today," Haruhi started with dramatic flair. But she seemed to have forgotten what it was and proceeded to search the sky for an idea. Leaving me hoping that would be the end of it, but alas it was not so.

"Today," Haruhi continued. "We are going to search the school grounds for anything mysterious or bizarre going on. This place may seem boring and ordinary, but I'm sure there are all kinds of weird stuff going on somewhere."

I gave the others a sidelong look, which they returned in agreement. Haruhi was as oblivious as ever and I assumed the plan for us was to keep it that way. I can't say I felt enthused by the idea and settled on groaning in apathy.

"Well I'm going to search from here," I said with a yawn. "Good luck."

"Oh no, Kyon," demanded Haruhi. "This is Brigade activity and all members must attend."

We all stood in perfect synchronisation and marched down the slope. Standing before Haruhi like troops on parade, all stiff apart from our terrified eyes. Refusing to give in to her demands, I forced myself to turn away. But my knees gave way and I collapsed on all fours. Sweat pouring from my brow as I looked at Haruhi's shoes, half expecting her to make me lick them.

I felt someone hunker down next to me and glanced aside to see Nagato. She looked pale and unsteady, the effort taking it out of her too.

"Going against her will not help our situation," whispered Nagato. "Your pride will not save anything if she gets angry."

"Get up you two," snapped Haruhi. Both of us feeling invisible forces yanking us to our feet. "Now let's get to the mission and I don't want to hear any complaints."

We slumped off after our great leader, the energy that had filled us when we came outside, diminishing. "I suppose it would be advantageous to see the new extent of this world," muttered Koizumi. "Though I have a feeling it doesn't extend anywhere beyond the school fence."

"Everything beyond does have a strange, painted appearance," added Asahina. "Like the backdrop of an old movie."

"Do you think if we ask Haruhi she'll create it for us?" I suggested.

"It's possible," said Koizumi. "But I'd rather wait until we've got a handle on things here."

"Well, you may like being at school for the rest of eternity," I snapped back. "But I'd rather get out of here."

"Agreed," replied Koizumi. "But we will have to be careful about how we suggest it to Miss Suzumiya."

"So, I recommend you check with us before saying anything," added Nagato.

"Okay, okay," I said. "But I won't wait forever."

"You won't," said Asahina. "Miss Suzumiya is bound to become impatient with the world as it is. I only worry that she'll create something crazy in the search for that excitement."

"The place is already far beyond crazy," I said. "It wouldn't surprise me if we found a monster behind the bike sheds."

All three of them hissed at me for silence. "Please be don't give her ideas," snapped Koizumi. "The way things are, even hearing that could cause Miss Suzumiya to make it happen."

I groaned with exasperation and said, "how in the hell are we going to get out of this mess?"

None of them answered, but their grim expressions said it all. Haruhi skipping ahead, pointing out random pieces of thankfully ordinary things. We meandered in a patrol of the school grounds, never seeing anyone else. Well, apart from the blank-faced students who walked between the buildings. Only stopping if you stood in front of them and then continuing without a reaction afterwards.

A chilling experience despite the sunshine, but still Haruhi didn't notice anything amiss. It was impossible to tell if she saw this insanity as normal or whether her subconscious mind blinded her to it. With only us seeing how bad the world was, with the worrying thought of us being abnormal and Haruhi the sane one.

After a long stroll, we completed our tour and collapsed onto a bench near the school entrance. Haruhi still pacing back and forth with her forever endless energy. Pondering the great mysteries that filled her mind, yet always missing the ones right in front of her.

"You know, I think we should do another round," said Haruhi. "I'm sure we missed something."

"Give it a rest Haruhi," I complained. "That's enough for today."

She gave me a disappointed look, but I made it clear that I didn't care. "Fine," Haruhi said. "I suppose it can wait till tomorrow, they might think we've missed them and slip up."

"Sure, whatever," I said with a shrug.

"Right, I'll see all tomorrow then," finished Haruhi. Giving a half-hearted wave goodbye and walking towards the gate.

Slouching on the bench we relaxed as Haruhi started to turn the corner of the school building. Then once she was out of sight, we leapt into action. Moving in hot pursuit, while trying to make sure Haruhi didn't know we were tailing her.

But immediately, things started to go wrong as the crushing weight of fatigue dropped on us. I heard a cry to my right as Asahina stumbled and crashed into Koizumi. Making no attempt to stand back up as they lay with eyes closed, consumed by sleep.

Nagato staggered beside me and I reached to pull her up. "No," she said with an effort, "keep after Suzumiya."

With regret, I let Nagato fall and pushed all my strength into my legs. My breaths ragged as my body sagged lower and lower. Putting every bit of energy I had into moving forward, even if I had to crawl.

In the distance I saw Haruhi approach the gate, her back getting smaller as she walked through it. I tried to move a little more, to see where she went beyond the school's boundary. But I watched in despair as she faded away into the grey fog outside and all my strength leaving me at once.

Lying in the dirt, I fought as hard as could, but it was too late. The bright summer's day consumed by darkness as blackout and waited for the cycle to begin again.

* * *

Despite my slumber, I felt like I hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. It had been so long now, that I'd quite lost track of how many days, going around and around through Haruhi's daily routine. The hard desk leaving an imprint on my cheek, as I lifted my head for a moment to look at the unending sunlight. Before letting my head smack back with a thump, not caring for the pain.

Haruhi was poking me in the back again, but that only made me want to try and sleep again. Burying my head in my arms I fought to find the blissful slumber that forever evaded me. I thought about going to find a quiet corner somewhere in the school, but I knew something would stop me. Haruhi always found a way to make sure I stayed put until she decided it was time for club.

After a particularly violent jab, I turned to glare at Haruhi. My tired eyes blinded by her bright and sunny smile as she giggled to herself.

"Don't you ever get tired of all this," I asked.

"Nope," Haruhi said with too much pride. "Oh, come on it's only school, lighten up."

I gave a dark laugh; this place was a mockery of school. It was impossible to learn here when the teachers talked nonsense and the books were blank. When the other students were mere background characters, blank and empty. Even the activities of the SOS Brigade were pointless and led nowhere.

Sure, we'd managed to go outside, but that was it and the gleam of that had faded fast. The stark reality being that the four subordinates of the Brigade were now well on the way to going mad. You could see the hopelessness in their eyes, craving change, but too scared of Haruhi's wrath to risk it.

I stared into nothing, the teacher's words noise in the background as I tried to remember a tune. But I could hardly recall any music now, whether it be a chart hit, a symphony or my mother humming a lullaby. I felt a tear well in my eye as I tried to remember anything about her, but it was all so vague.

I drifted, waiting for the lesson that Haruhi insisted on having, to end. I'd given up on trying to understand why she indulged in this ritual, but for some reason, it was important to her. Some part of Haruhi's crazy brain had decided that classes were a vital part of her world.

The bell went, way too early as usual. Haruhi grabbed me and we went off to the club room. I didn't fight it anymore, letting her pull me along as she commanded my legs to follow. Only she could find the club room, otherwise, it vanished in an impossible maze of corridors. Usually finding Brigade members en route as Haruhi bragged about how useless they were. They also accepted whatever she said and let our supreme leader lead with the same hopeless look.

We sat at our usual places, where I watched without hope as Nagato counted to herself. She was determined to keep track of the number of repetitions we had gone through. But without the power and fortitude of the Entity, Nagato had lost track a long time ago. Mumbling random number sequences in the hope that they were right.

A whimper pulled my attention towards Asahina, but the sight made me look away quick. Her outfits now changed at a moment's notice, leaving the girl in a constant state of tension and terror. Even the allure of her current bunny suit, felt dirty when you saw the stricken look in her eyes. Koizumi was doing his best to comfort her, though you could see the toll in his eyes as well.

Despite the dismal atmosphere, Haruhi was ever cheerful. Humming a jolly tune as she rustled bits of paper and organised today's project. We couldn't go on like this, someone here would snap and there was no telling what would happen if that occurred.

Glancing to check Haruhi was distracted. I looked at the three other members and whispered, "I'm going to suggest we go into town."

Asahina's heart sank as she said, "Kyon, we've talked about this."

I knew their objections because we'd discussed this idea a hundred times before. "I'm not suggesting we do anything extravagant," I said. "Just a trip down to the café near the station."

"Even something as simple as that carries huge risks," Koizumi pointed out.

"No, it won't," I insisted. "We'll have a coffee and a treat, then come back. Nothing complicated, nothing ground-breaking, only a little change from this god-awful place."

Despite their dismissals, I could see the hungry look in their eyes. Not only for the café's tasty pastries but for something new. I knew I had their support, even if they denied it.

"It could be an experiment into the extent of Suzumiya's current abilities," said Nagato. Her voice flat and scientific, as if she was trying to sound less human than she actually was.

"A change of tea would be nice," said Asahina in an empty voice. "The variety Miss Suzumiya keeps here is so plain."

Koizumi tried to look disapproving, but the slight nod at Asahina's words showed the truth. He took a deep breath and sighed before saying, "very well."

The atmosphere rose a little, though there still wasn't much hope. I still had to convince Haruhi and it was difficult to know how she'd react. But first, I decided we would let her unleash today's project on us. Which I hoped would put her in a better mood and make her more amenable.

My regret was instantaneous, as her plan turned out to be a photoshoot for the SOS Brigade. The rack of outfits growing as we were all forced into ridiculous costumes and poses. Asahina bravely withstood the worst of it, though by the end Koizumi was having to prop her up, as her will faded away.

In the lull, I removed the reindeer antlers from my head and tried to casually say, "hey Haruhi. Do you want to go down the café after this and grab a coffee?"

Haruhi looked at me, her face frozen in surprise. Everything in the room went silent as the others waited for the outcome. She looked back at the camera in her hands and flicked through a few photos on the screen.

"Just the five of us," I added in the uncomfortable silence. "It'll be nice."

"Oh," said Haruhi with a hint of surprise. Before reasserting herself and adding, "okay, but on one condition, Kyon. You're paying."

I shrugged with a relieved smile and said, "sure thing."

I hadn't seen my wallet in ages and to be honest hadn't seen any money in this world at all. But I was sure that Haruhi would find a way to make me pay up. I leant back and sighed, relaxing in the relieved if cautious smiles of the others.

But the reverie was short lived as I felt Haruhi glaring at me at close range. "Well come on then," she snapped. "Let's go!"

She stormed off towards the door with her nose in the air. As we all scrambled to get up and after her, not wanting to risk being left behind. Feeling an increasing sense of trepidation as we headed towards the school gate.

My heartbeat quickened as we stepped through and I heard Asahina sigh with relief. Haruhi giving us a quizzical look, not understanding why we were all so nervous. Because the world at first glance seemed normal, the long road down the hill looking the same as it always had been.

But that was the extent of the normality. For beyond that, the houses on each side the scenery still looked like a painted backdrop. Though as we progressed the painted buildings would suddenly pop into three dimensions. Like the graphics of some old video game, the town grew around us, in a moment that was both surreal and fantastic.

Nagato gasped at her apartment building, the huge complex looming amongst painted trees. While Asahina whispered to Koizumi at the sight of the shopping arcade further off. The sight of my house's roof making me smile, the feeling being like a bird that was finally able to stretch its wings.

Haruhi only complained about our slow pace, but we were so enraptured by the moment that we didn't care. Perhaps because of this, we all too soon found ourselves at the café. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at leaving the outside world but coming here had been my idea.

* * *

The café itself seemed normal, if you considered the silent, blank-faced staff normal. Taking our usual spot, a waitress glided over with unnatural smoothness. Leaving me at a nervous pause, feeling unsure of how to address the silent figure.

But Haruhi ordered as if nothing was amiss and suddenly the blank face began to gain features. Two large eyes faded into being, which was soon joined by a small nose and a simple line of a mouth. The whole effect was more like a drawing or cartoon than a real person. But at the very least it was a little less unsettling than the empty nothing a moment before.

"And what would you like sir," said the waitress. Her mouth only forming simple shapes on her cheerful face rather than truly moving.

Her unsettling nature made me stammer and I buried myself in the menu to hide my discomfort. "I'll have a coffee," I started. Then swallowed and added, "along with a pain au chocolat."

"Very good sir," the waitress said with a smile. Before turning to the others to ask for their orders. Who gave their orders in rapid succession, joining my relief when the waitress glided away.

There was an awkward silence while we waited, but the service was here was fast. If anything, it felt a little too quick, but I suppose there was no way that Haruhi would wait in this place.

Once we received our orders, Haruhi leaned back and asked, "So why did you want to come all the way down here?"

"I only thought it would be nice have some coffee here," I said. Trying to sound more confident than I felt under the wary gazes of the others. "We used to go into town all the time, but it feels like ages since we last did."

"Has it?" Replied Haruhi with surprising quietness. Her eyes darting around with increasing unease.

The lights in the cafe flickered and Haruhi's fear began to seep into me. I could see it in the eyes of the other Brigade members, pleading for aid. As the darkness grew I thought I could hear Haruhi's question echoing, begging me to free her from this doubt.

"It doesn't matter," I said, slamming the table to get Haruhi's attention. "What does, are the mysteries must be lurking in this town, just waiting for you to find them."

I forced an enthusiastic grin and looked at the others for ascension. Their agreement was vague, the flickering lights drawing attention away. A deep groan echoing from the walls like a ship in a storm.

"I suppose," said Haruhi with a gloomy cast. Slouching on her hand as another groan boomed through the cafe. Her eyes distant as she gazed towards the window, heedless of the darkness around her.

"Well, what would you like to do," I asked. "There's plenty of stuff around town, like the park or the pool." I looked at the others for suggestions as my brain jammed.

"The library," suggested Nagato.

"What about going shopping," added Asahina. "We could do with some new things for the club room and..."

As Asahina trailed off Koizumi interjected, "or if you'd rather go back to the club room?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, but Koizumi only shrugged. Haruhi was still gazing off into the distance, mulling things over without enthusiasm. Her finger caressing the edge of the empty coffee cup.

"Nah," said Haruhi with a sigh. Slumping lower as dejection took hold, the lights dimming ever further.

I was beginning to lose my patience with Haruhi. The atmosphere was so oppressive, and I could feel my head starting to pound. The others were no help, looking down at their drinks, too scared or too clueless to act. The situation was becoming hopeless, making me wish that I could fall asleep and start afresh.

Haruhi let out another dramatic sigh, plucking at my already irritated nerves. My eyelid twitching, I demanded, "well what do you want to do. Name it, anything you want, tell us for pity's sake!"

"I don't know," shouted Haruhi, emphasising every syllable.

"Really," I snapped back heedless of what I was saying. "There must be something in the crazy world of yours you want. A party, a date, to hell with it, why not have another cup of coffee."

"I'm fine, thank you," replied Haruhi. Stammering a little as her cheeks flushed.

"What about in the long term," I insisted, ignoring Asahina's hand on my arm. "What's the plan for the future or are we going to keep dancing your little dance. Going around and around forever doing pointless little club activities."

"I don't have to tell you my plans," said Haruhi. Her voice cracking as she tried to remain indignant. "Anyway, who cares about the future, it's better to live in the now."

"The now," I snapped with an incredulous laugh. "You're telling me you don't have a plan. No thoughts about seeing the world or going to college or even starting a family."

"Sure, everyone thinks about that sort of stuff," stammered Haruhi. "I don't know, when I try to think of the future. Everything gets all confused and I..."

Haruhi trailed off, her breath became ragged, her eyes searching around for an escape. Sweat pouring down her forehead as she pushed to leave. Only to find herself trapped between Nagato and the dividing screen. Still trying to explain herself in jumbled words, that were all senseless in her terror.

Realising I had gone way too far, I reached over the table and took a hold of Haruhi's hands. Feeling their heat as I gave them a reassuring squeeze, making her stare at me in surprise. Haruhi's mouth hanging open, she started to tremble, and I thought I saw tears.

"Just tell me, what do you want," I whispered. "That's all I..."

"STOP PUSHING HER, KYON!"

The voice was deafening, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Filled with anger and outrage, but there was no mistaking that it was Haruhi's.

My whole body froze solid, my hand still holding hers. Panic set in as I tried to move, but nothing, not even my eyes would respond. Haruhi was motionless in front of me, her face still locked in terror. The vague shapes of the others, still as statues in my peripheral vision. I felt like my heart should be beating at a billion beats per minute, but that stilled as well. Only my mind raced, searching for an escape, terrified of being stuck like this forever. Offering prayers to any god that listen, hoping for a miracle.

Then something did move, in this frozen world, Haruhi's eyes blinked. Her panicked expression fading as her eyes focused on me and coursed into a frown. Her head turning at an unnatural angle from her motionless body. While her face seemed to flow and distort, channelling all its rage onto me.

"I AM GIVING YOU A FINAL WARNING," boomed Haruhi's voice. "IF YOU KEEP PUSHING HER LIKE THIS, I WILL DO FAR WORSE THAN RESET THE WORLD. NOT EVEN YOU ARE IMMUNE FROM MY WRATH."

Then in an instant, the terrible visage was gone, and the world was in motion again. Haruhi shrieked in a voice that was a great deal more normal and wrenched her hands away. All the energy I had pent up in that nightmare, burst out and I too leapt back. Sending my chair tipping back and hurling me crashing to the floor.

There was pandemonium as everyone began to shout and as Haruhi leapt upon the table. Like a rat out of a trap, she bolted over me and ran straight for the door. Ignoring my cries for her to stop and the others confused exclamations. Grunting with pain, I forced myself my feet. Scrambling after Haruhi, with all the strength I could muster. Ignoring the agony in my shoulder as I hammered through the cafe door.

My mind and legs were racing as I tore up the street after Haruhi, trying to wrap my head around what had happened. What had I seen, it had been Haruhi, but also not or at least not the one I was running after. Her threat didn't make a whole lot of sense, but was without a doubt, very real.

I glanced with despair at the buildings as they grew and shrank alongside the running Haruhi. The town reducing to simple shapes and colours as soon as they were out of her line of sight. If I didn't speed up I feared I would be left behind in the nothingness that followed. Scared to look back and check on the others in case they were already gone.

I had to push forward, catch up before I lost everything.

* * *

I drove every I had to my legs, reminding myself that I was a creation of that crazy girl. That all the pain I was experiencing wasn't real, that it was all imaginary. But the cramp running through my side was still agony, no matter how much I gritted my teeth.

She was closer though and with renewed determination, I forced air into my lungs. Expelling it all as I bellowed, "Haruhi!"

Up ahead, her silhouette slowed and turned around. The world bursting into colour and depth around me. Feeling an end to my pursuit, I drew from my last reserves of strength and ran to meet her.

Haruhi was standing in the middle of the empty road, the wind fluttering her yellow ribbon. Her eyes red as she gave me a wary look as her mouth moved without words.

I reached to grab Haruhi's hand and stop her from running off again. But she snapped her hand away, our fingertips brushed each other. All while she screamed, "get away from me!"

The snap of her rejection knocked me back and I raised my hands in defeat. "Okay, okay," I stammered. "But please explain to me what the hell happened back there?"

"Me explain, what about you Kyon. You were all mouthing off about all this weird stuff, getting in my face and then, and then…" Haruhi paused, for breath. Her eyes wild as she blurted, "… then you touched me. Since when have given you permission to do that. Because that's when I knew, when I felt, like I just had to get out of there."

"But you were fine with me touching you the other night," I started though I had no idea how long ago that had been now. "You wanted to… well, we err… you know, when we cuddled at your place."

It was an awkward thing to talk about despite everything, but I hoped the memory might soothe her. At the very least it might restore some trust between us.

"What, we never did that, " cried Haruhi, making my heart sink. Before she muttering to herself, "that was only a dream, wasn't it? I don't know, everything is so confusing. What's happening to me, I don't understand, why does nothing make sense?"

She clutched at her head and began to scream, muttering nonsensical words to herself. Collapsing to her knees and swaying in a way that tore at my heart.

"Haruhi," I said. "It wasn't a…"

Then a horrible sensation hit me. Like a great pair of eyes glaring down at me. Full of anger and the promise of terrible retribution.

I swallowed with fear. Changing my tune as I reached out to comfort Haruhi, only to remember and pull my hands back. "Actually Haruhi," I started again. "Maybe it was a dream."

A single red-rimmed eye looked at me through her fingers. "Why would we have the same dream," Haruhi asked.

The intimacy of the question made me blush. "Well, it might have been a coincidence," I said with an awkward laugh. "but it could be that something actually weird happened, like a psychic link or something."

I was expecting her to admonish such an idea, but Haruhi only looked at the floor with a blank expression. "Maybe," she whispered. Not seeming to have the strength to say anymore.

She looked so broken it hurt, but at least her crisis seemed to have abated. I placed a hand on Haruhi's back and said, "look let's go somewhere and calm everything down."

"But where," replied Haruhi. "Isn't that the big problem?"

My words caught in my throat as that issue rose up again. I looked at the town, even though was only a vague mass of shapes. Seeing one that looked like my house, though I could never be sure in this place. But, it was as good a safe haven as any and it wasn't too far a walk.

"Let's go to my place," I said. "We'll find the others and go back to mine. I'll do some dinner and we can all relax for a while."

Haruhi considered this for a moment, before giving a simple, "okay."

I offered Haruhi a hand, but she chose to push herself up. Despite keeping her face bowed away from my gaze, I gave her a small hopeful smile. But she didn't return it and we both started walking in silence back down the road.

* * *

We met the others coming the opposite way, all looking relieved to see us. Haruhi ignored them and Asahina started to greet her, but I shook my head. They fell alongside, giving our leader cautious glances.

"Where are we going?" Whispered Asahina.

"My place," I answered. Responding to the looks they gave me with, "I could think of anywhere else that was nearby."

They nodded and Nagato asked, "what exactly happened back there."

I glanced at Haruhi trying to gauge if she was in earshot. "I'll explain later," I whispered. "But I want to get Haruhi somewhere safe and quiet, the situation here has become a lot more complicated."

Those worried faces were now becoming the only looks I ever saw on the other brigade members. All glancing at each other and trying to have a silent conversation through looks alone. Some of them may have psychic powers once, but in this world, they were long gone.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice that Haruhi had stopped in front of me. Walking into her outstretched hand and meeting her irritated gaze.

"What are you still walking for, Kyon," asked Haruhi. "We're here."

I looked about in confusion, sure that we hadn't been walking long enough. Nor made enough turns to make it to my home. But there it was, looking as normal a family home as it had ever been.

Haruhi clicked her tongue with irritation and marched off towards the front door. But she waited, tapping her foot for me to go in first. I walked up to my home, unease and trepidation growing inside me. Though it was nice to be here after so long, I had no idea what to expect inside.

These days, the memories of my family were a confused mess. The echoes of many worlds layered on top of each other, leaving only broad strokes of what they had been like. Still, right now I didn't know if they'd be home and I wasn't sure if I wanted them to be or not. The idea of my folks being the same as the blank-faced automatons at the cafe, giving me the chills. I eased open my front door and called out that I was home, feeling a little relieved when there was no response.

At first, everything seemed normal, the furniture in the same as it had always been. I heard the others giving their pardons as they removed their shoes. Haruhi striding past to collapse upon the couch, inspecting my home with a casual glance. The rest were warier and I had to agree with them. The place was too clean and orderly to be a real family home, especially one with my sister living there. My mother made sure we kept the place nice, but still, this place felt more like a show home or movie set.

But it was my home, so I supposed that should at least try to be a good host. Motioning everyone to sit, I headed to the kitchen to see about some drinks. Not sure if there would even be any, let alone something we'd like.

Feeling relieved to hear the chink of full fridge door as the internal light showed it to be well stocked. I pulled out a few cans of juice and a bottle of iced tea, checking to see if I had a decent selection. But the labels were strange, with all the text indistinct and only the brand name being close to legible. Leaving me to go by the colours and hope for the best.

I rummaged through the cupboards for snacks and again found a good stock. Though as before, the packaging was blurry, and the brand names seemed wrong. All were slight variants on the normal names with the occasional pun thrown in. I'd no idea what they'd taste like, but they would have to do. Reaching for some glasses, I began to wonder about the contents of the other cupboards. Curious to see if there would be anything to help with our unusual situation.

Ripping open another cupboard, I met only a blank grey wall. Where, instead of shelves filled with household odds and ends, there was only a smoky mass. A fog that shifted as I touched it and flowed towards the floor.

I pushed my hand in, hoping to find something beyond. But a brutal force shoved me back, my knuckles catching an edge as I was almost bowled over. The cupboard door slamming shut by itself and refusing any attempts to reopen it.

"What are you doing, Kyon?" came Haruhi's voice from the couch. "If you need a hand, say so."

Her voice brought me back to my senses enough to blurt a, "no, I'm fine." As I had zero idea how to explain this to her and knowing that it wouldn't do any good if I did.

With unsteady hands, I took the drinks and snacks through as the glasses clinked together. Everyone thanked me, but the atmosphere was so unsettled that it didn't have any heart. Haruhi stared out the window at the sky, eating and drinking without much thought.

The grey wall was beginning to play on my mind and I looked towards the stairs, wondering about the rest of the house. So, after excusing myself, I headed upstairs. Searching for something, even if I wasn't sure what it was.

The first stop was my room and I was thankful that it was normal, if a little cleaner. Even clothes hung in the wardrobe and I considered getting changed. Feeling like I hadn't taken off my school uniform in ages, though it always seemed clean and fresh. I looked at the plain design on the front of a T-shirt, feeling sure I would never have bought something so boring. When I heard the door open.

"Yes, a change of clothes would be nice," said Koizumi with his usual smile. "Though if Miss Suzumiya's mindset is as unstable as I suspect, I would advise against it."

I nodded in vague agreement, putting the T-shirt back with a sigh. While Koizumi wandered over to my bookshelf and studied the spines. Making a disappointed sigh of his own as he ran a finger over the vague squiggles and pulled a book out at random.

It was blank inside and Koizumi said to himself, "Miss Nagato will be disappointed."

I watched him slid it back and said, "That's nothing compared to what might have happened to some parts of the house."

Koizumi raised an eyebrow and asked, "like what?"

While my own room was fine, I hadn't checked the others up here. So, I entered the hallway and pushed open the bathroom door. Though I had felt a need for it in a long time, I was still relieved to see it there. Even though it showed no sign of use and the toiletries had the same generic quality as the contents of the fridge.

I heard a door open next to me and saw Koizumi entering my little sister's room. As I followed, he studied the bright walls and furniture with a critical gaze. It was everything you expected from a little girl's room, only the details had the same was vague quality as before. But the clincher was the areas that could not be seen from the doorway, here the walls were grey and held no decoration.

"It's like the room is only designed for a casual glance," commented Koizumi. Running his finger along the line that split the pink and grey walls.

Wondering where else that might apply, I went to the door to my parent's room and pushed. But only opened a tiny amount, even when I put my shoulder to it. But peering through I could see the same grey mass that I'd seen in the cupboard downstairs.

Hearing my exertion, Koizumi appeared and peered into the crack. With a nod, we both put our shoulders to the door and pushed again. At first, it held, but inch by inch, it began to give. Like pushing against sand, the door began to open.

With a strange sound, like a cry of frustration. The door flew open, sending us both stumbling inside. Gasping for breath, Koizumi and I looked about and saw only an empty grey world. The fog shifting in the breeze that drifted from the open door, which slammed shut with a bang.

"HAPPY NOW BOYS," came a booming voice. Echoing through the void and filling me with dread. Haruhi's distinctive tone filled with anger and indignation.

I looked to Koizumi, wondering if he'd heard it too. With the look of horror on his face, showing that he clearly had.

"ALL YOU HAD TO DO IS PLAY ALONG," boomed the voice again. "BUT ALL YOU DO IS KEEP PUSHING ME. WELL, NOW YOU'RE TRAPPED, AND YOU'VE DISCOVERED THE BIG TRUTH THAT THERE IS NOTHING HERE!"

We both stood still, the instinct to run growing, even though it was futile. I glanced at Koizumi, waiting for him to make a move. But he only glanced back, no doubt waiting for me.

But eventually, Koizumi took a deep breath and looked upwards into the mists. "Who are you," he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

His answer came with a mocking laugh bouncing through the fog. "WHY ITSUKI," the voice said. "DO I REALLY NEED TO ANSWER THAT?"

Koizumi tried his best to stand firm as he stammered, "I only wanted to establish some facts."

The terrible laugh echoed again, but instead of growing, it started to normalize. Then a yellow glow grew, seeming so bright in this grey world. The mists shifting again, patches of light and shade forming a figure walking towards us.

There was no doubt it was Haruhi, a being of fog smiling in a way that always made me nervous. The yellow light emanating from the ribbon in her dark hair, as starlight twinkled in grey eyes. She walked up to Koizumi and smiled, lifting his chin with an outstretched forefinger.

In her normal voice, she said softly, "I'm Haruhi Suzumiya of course."

* * *

Koizumi was sweating at how close this new Haruhi was. Her stance seeming seductive and yet threatening. A long fingernail poised a millimetre from his Adam's apple. His voice croaking as he said, "then who is sitting downstairs?"

Almost on cue, a faint voice came in from the world beyond the grey fog. Despite how far away it sounded, Haruhi's voice was unmistakable. Demanding to know, "What in the hell are you two doing up there?"

The sudden cry from downstairs made the Haruhi with us stagger back. Whipping her hand away from Koizumi as her whole body flickered and distorted. An expression of anger and frustration contorting this Haruhi's grey features.

But she calmed herself, the same unnerving smile returning as this Haruhi said with some pride, "she is me."

But our expressions made it clear that such a simple answer wasn't enough.

"I suppose you could see me as her," she said, pausing for a moment to consider." Her subconscious."

Koizumi pondered the answer and asked, "so you're the part of Miss Suzumiya that controls this world. The one that shapes everything with her power, giving form to the town, the school and us?"

"In essence yes," the grey being replied. "I keep everything here running smoothly so that she can enjoy herself. Giving her a perfect world to live happily for evermore."

Haruhi's subconscious had a pleasant smile, as if this was the nicest thing imaginable. But that faded as she gave a bitter sigh. Adding, "at least that's how it used to work, before your little science experiment."

Glaring at him with venom in her eyes, Koizumi stepped back. Raising his hands in a defensive gesture as he tried to respond, but words failed him.

"What do you mean," I asked. "All we did was have a trip down memory lane."

"You saw too much, you let her, see too much," snapped Haruhi, turning her glare on me. "Now there's all these doubts and wild thoughts rushing around in her head. It's taking all I have to stop this world from crashing down around her. A situation not helped by the two of you messing around."

Why not let it come down," I snapped back. "Let her see the truth."

"Not a chance," insisted Haruhi subconscious. "I will fix this mess and make sure it never happens again. Then we can all go back to having normal fun adventures, once I wipe your memories clean of all this foolishness."

"But what if we don't want to forget," asked Koizumi.

"I'm not giving you a choice Koizumi," replied Haruhi. "I created you and I can just as easily destroy you."

Koizumi shrank back as she snapped her fingers in his face. "But I'm our collective friendship means something to you as well," he said. "I would like to hope that you wouldn't cast us aside, like toys that you've grown too old for."

"Don't talk to me about being too old for toys!" Haruhi cried with a suddenness that sent Koizumi stumbling to the floor. Then a guilty look crossed her face and she coughed, before starting anew.

"Okay, okay, I may not destroy you. But I can make things very unpleasant believe me," Haruhi stated. Pondering for a moment before smiling and adding, "Perhaps it's time for a change of scenery. See if Kouyou Academy is more agreeable and leave you guys to your own devices. Would you like that Koizumi, do you remember what that was like last time?"

Koizumi's face went as grey as the fog around us. He tried to hold himself resolute, but he broke and hung his head. A whispered, "yes," escaping his lips.

Haruhi gave a pleased smile and said, "good."

"Don't bow your head to her," I yelled at Koizumi. "There's no way out of this if you do and we'll be stuck playing her stupid games forever."

Koizumi looked at me with empty sadness. "But there is no way out of this," he said. "It's better to submit."

"There, that's better," said Haruhi sounding very pleased.

"Damn it Koizumi, don't give up like…." I started.

"Kyon," cut in Koizumi. "There is nothing we can do. Not here and not now."

The heavy emphasis he put on the words matched his narrowed eyes and made me pause. I gave an exasperated sigh and said, "fine. Then what should we do, right now."

"Actually, I've been thinking about that," said Haruhi. "Something to keep her downstairs distracted while I sort things out. It took some time you know, but I've finally found it and it's funny, because you were the one to suggest it, Kyon."

"I did?" I said.

"We're going to have a party!" She proclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. Her eyes wild in expression of triumph that was terrifying.

I tried to keep my voice level as I said, "a party?"

"Yep and it'll be the best party in the history of everything," said Haruhi with pride. Posing with her hands on her hips.

I sighed and said, "well I'm sure there's some party stuff around the house somewhere. Though we will have to go to the shops for a cake, balloons and the like."

"Not that kind of party, idiot," she snapped. "I mean a big extravaganza. One that…" Haruhi stopped mid-sentence as her train of thought jumped tracks. "Actually, I'll bring the other two here, saves me explaining all this twice."

The grey Haruhi smiled and snapped her fingers.

There was a burst of yellow light and in a flash, Asahina and Nagato were standing in front of us. Their eyes wide in panic, looking at each over and us for an answer. Asahina leaping away with a squeak, when she saw this new Haruhi standing beside her.

"What," said Nagato aghast. "What is this place?"

"Who is she," asked Asahina in a shaking voice. Looking at Koizumi for an answer and only getting a wary smile.

"Never you mind all that boring stuff," said Haruhi. "Listen…"

But Haruhi's declaration was interrupted by another identical voice. One crying in a state of absolute panic screamed, "What, where did you all go?"

The Haruhi in front of us cursed in anger. Her image flickering again as she glared at the floor and presumably at the other Haruhi in the room below us. With another, harsher snap of her fingers, that was another cry from downstairs. Followed by a thunk and the sound of breaking china.

"Right," growled Haruhi, "now that's dealt with, you are all going to listen."

"What the hell did you do to her?" I exclaimed, looking for a way to get down there.

"Taking a nap," snapped Haruhi. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"But, you can't…" I started.

"Yes, I can," replied Haruhi with a menacing growl. "Now you are all going to listen to my plan or I will make you listen."

She looked at us with narrowed eyes, daring anyone to speak. But we were all too wary to speak, the only sound being Asahina's tearful whimper.

"Good," said Haruhi. Her smile becoming more genial as she straightened up and gave a polite cough.

"This party," she continued. "Will be like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Better than all those balls and proms you see in the movies. A grand spectacle up at the school with hundreds of people, all dancing in fancy clothes to live music. Tables heaving with the most delicious food and the most amazing decorations. It'll be the most incredible thing you've ever seen."

Contrary to her excitement, my heart was sinking through the floor. Leaving me to ask, "and we're organising this?"

"Of course," said Haruhi. "But I'll make sure everything goes smoothly don't you worry."

"So, what are we celebrating," asked Koizumi.

Haruhi paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she said without a care. "Only that it'll be the most amazing thing ever!"

The lack of enthusiasm in the group seemed to echo through mist that swirled around us. We exchanged glances as we waited for this crazed god to demand ever more of us.

"And what if we refuse," asked Nagato.

All eyes went to her and Asahina let out a small gasp. Haruhi's own eyes narrowing with fury, as the yellow light pulsed with rage. She looked down into Nagato's blank eyes, seeming to tower over her in an attempt at intimidation.

"Yuki," said Haruhi. "I've humoured your various attempts at insubordination over the years. They've often been an amusing and mild distraction from the normal scheme of things. But this is the last straw!"

Jabbing at Nagato's chest with a pointed finger. Haruhi seethed, her grey body shifting to become almost monstrous. I went to move closer, figuring to put a stop to this somehow. But Nagato waved a hand to stop me, her eyes still fixed on Haruhi's.

"That may be," said Nagato. "But you did not answer my question. What happens, if we say no?"

Haruhi broke away from the staring match and paced away. Her hands locked behind her back as she walked back and forth, like a teacher deciding on a punishment.

"Simply erasing you from existence, is almost too easy," said Haruhi. "So, I think, I'll have you watch. To spend eternity watching Kyon from afar, where he can never see, hear or even remember that you existed. But you will, you will witness his dreams, his love, his pain, and won't be able to do a damn thing about it."

Nagato was still trying to stand resolute, staring Haruhi down. But her will was starting to shake, her large eyes shimmering and her lip quivering. Nagato glanced sidelong at me and I struggled to think of something. Not wanting her to give in, but not wanting her to suffer either.

Haruhi's subconscious grinned in triumph. "You can pretend to be an emotionless robot all you want, but we all know that's not true," she declared. "So, do I now have your complete co-operation?"

Nagato tried to push for one last ounce of resolve, but it gave out in an instant. "Very well," she said in a quiet voice, looking down in defeat at the floor.

"There, that wasn't so hard was it," said Haruhi. With a face that carried an infuriating level smugness.

I was hoping that would be it and we could get this whole mess over with. My soul feeling heavy inside of me as I tried not to make eye contact with my colleagues. But this Haruhi wasn't done and she rounded on Asahina, making the poor girl squeak.

"Mikuru," announced Haruhi with a fair degree of menace. "Don't think you've escaped my wrath. I'll give you a similar fate if you try to mess around with my plans or maybe, I'll get more physical."

Haruhi raised her hands into grasping claws and stepped forward. Making Mikuru shrink back and protect herself, shaking her head. "I'll be good I swear," the girl cried, trying to hide in a place that had nowhere to run.

I was about to demand Haruhi stop, when Koizumi took a step forward and put an arm in front of Asahina. "We all understand the situation now," Koizumi stated. "Along with the consequences of our failure or refusal."

Haruhi's head snapped to him with a look of surprise. I thought for a moment that she would get angry, but the look of irritation faded. Switching to an appraising attitude as Haruhi considered how to respond.

"Just tell us what you need us to do and we'll get on with it," I said in a blunt tone. Trying to pull her attention away from the others.

"Hey guys, where are you," asked a wary voice from downstairs. The fear in her words audible even from our strange locale. "I'm coming up now."

The yellow light surrounding Haruhi's subconscious began to flicker and fade. "Get back downstairs," she snapped. "Through her, I'll let you know the rest of my plans."

With a wave of her hand, the mist swirled and shimmered, solidifying into a bedroom door. The bright light of the hallway, vivid in comparison to this fogbound world. But our distrust of Haruhi made us wary of the doorway, glancing at each other and waiting for someone to go first.

"Go on then," insisted Haruhi. Gesticulating with a distinct lack of patience.

Koizumi took the initiative, followed by Asahina and Nagato. I took one look back as I walked through the door, to see this grey Haruhi standing alone in the mist. She gave a friendly wave, but I didn't return it. Pulling the door shut hard and breathing a sigh of relief as I let go of the handle.

* * *

The others made for the stairs, all lost in their thoughts. I stopped them and asked, "so what are we going to do?"

Their eyes were dark as Asahina said with a glum face, "exactly what she wants us to do."

"You're taking her threats seriously," I said.

"Without a doubt," replied Koizumi. "Miss Suzumiya or whoever that was, meant every word."

"What did she mean by putting you on the sidelines?" I said.

"There was a time when we fell out of favour with Miss Suzumiya," said Nagato. Her grim look shared by Asahina and Koizumi. "So, she decided to uproot the club and start it again at Kouyou Academy with some new followers. Ones that you may remember as comrades of your friend Miss Sasaki."

Koizumi took a deep breath with the weight of the memory as he added. "We still existed within that world of course, but without purpose. Empty, apart from the gnawing feeling that something was missing from our lives. That thing was, of course, Miss Suzumiya."

"You've no idea how maddening that is," he declared. Grabbing my jacket and pulling me close enough to see the fear in his eyes. "To be stumbling blind, with a great void in your heart. Forever searching for something and never finding it."

"Okay, I get it" I replied, pushing his hands away. "Actually, I may have experienced something like that myself." Remembering a time when had been lost in a strange world, searching for Haruhi. I tried to not to look at Nagato as I said this, but she still looked away.

Koizumi stopped and considered for a moment, before nodding in acceptance. "Then you understand why I'm serious about her threat."

"So, are we going to sit here going along with whatever that lunatic wants?" I demanded.

Koizumi flinched and gave the ceiling a wary glance. "In all honesty, yes," he hissed. "We've no idea how omnipresent this subconscious is, but I'm going to presume she is, until we find out otherwise."

I narrowed my eyes at the same patch of ceiling. "Great," I snapped. "As if she wasn't enough trouble already."

Koizumi smile was grim as he replied with, "indeed."

There was another long silence and we started to walk down. In a calmer voice, I asked Koizumi, "so how does it feel, to finally meet your god?"

"I suppose I did, didn't I," said Koizumi with a hollow laugh.

"If that was the real Haruhi, the one behind everything," I said. Then she wasn't quite what I was expecting."

"I know what you mean," replied Koizumi. "It's less like meeting a god and closer to finally seeing the wizard behind the curtain." There were nods of agreement amongst the four of us. Before he added in much darker tone, "it is rather troubling."

But how much it troubled him, Koizumi didn't elaborate. For at that moment Haruhi emerged at the bottom of the staircase, this time in full colour. But there was none of the smug confidence of her subconscious, as this face etched with fear and concern. She rubbed a red mark on her forehead and looked at me with red-rimmed eyes.

But for a moment those eyes changed, becoming darker and sparkling with starlight. Haruhi's mouth twisted into a menacing smile and then as quick as a flash, it was gone.

"Where did you guys go," Haruhi asked in a quavering voice.

I steeled myself and gripped the bannister. Then walked down the stairs to meet her.

* * *

 _"Who was that voice?"_

 _"What is happening to me?"_


	10. Chapter 10

**The Eternity of Haruhi Suzumiya**

 **Chapter 10**

 _"It's time to party!"_

"Where did you all go," asked Haruhi. Raising a quivering finger towards us as she watched us descending the stairs. "You two guys seemed to be upstairs for ages, then all of a sudden, Yuki and Mikuru disappeared!"

We looked at each other, unsure of how to answer. "We went to see where they'd got to," said Asahina. Pointing between me and Koizumi as we gave nervous smiles.

"No," insisted Haruhi. "You vanished right in front of my eyes."

"You were very sleepy," said Nagato. "You may have dozed off for a moment."

"Maybe," replied Haruhi in a quieter voice. Though she didn't sound convinced as her brow furrowed with worry.

Nagato pushed passed her and we followed into the front room. Haruhi shuffling in behind us, still looking about in confusion. But I had no way of explaining it to her, nothing that wouldn't incur the wrath of Haruhi's other self anyway. The strange being in the grey mist, that had proclaimed itself to be Haruhi's subconscious.

"Shall I make us some more tea?" asked Asahina, her high voice filled with forced brightness.

"That, would be most appreciated," answered Koizumi. Sitting down on the couch with a tired sigh of relief.

Nagato and I both nodded in agreement, taking our seats around the coffee table. Leaving Asahina to give a little smile as she walked off to the kitchen. Haruhi sat opposite me, the strain of all the thoughts spinning through her brain, burning in her eyes.

"I swear they vanished in front me," stammered Haruhi to herself. Looking at Nagato in desperation and asking, "Please tell me Yuki. I know it sounds crazy, but did you, or didn't you?"

Nagato contemplated for a moment, her blank eyes looking into Haruhi's quavering ones. "No, we simply walked out," said Nagato in a flat tone that brooked no argument.

It was hard seeing Haruhi so distressed, even with all that we'd learned about her. I had to keep in mind that this girl in front of me, was in many respects as much a pawn, as we were. Feeling certain there was no way I could tell her the truth, one that would send anyone insane, let alone Haruhi.

I looked to Koizumi and could see the concern wrought on his face. But he didn't seem to an answer either, the silence in the room growing ever more oppressive. The only sounds being the clinks of Asahina in the kitchen and Haruhi's disturbed mutters.

As much to break the tension and fulfilling the need to say something. I said, "Haruhi, you probably did doze off, it's been a long day after all."

She tried to return my smile, but there was no heart in it. "You're right, I do feel oh so tired," Haruhi said. "But I can't rest until I'm sure about what happened, it's maddening. I mean I thought I heard another voice earlier, someone shouting. It wasn't any of you four, but it was also rather familiar. There wasn't anyone else up there with you?"

We shook our heads in unison and Koizumi affirmed with, "no it was just us."

Haruhi sighed and rubbed her head. A red mark glowed on her temple and it seemed to grow brighter as she touched it. Slumping forward, Haruhi looked down at her reflection in the glass coffee table. Then her eyes went wide.

With a grim look of determination, Haruhi launched herself at her bag. Rummaging until with a cry of triumph she pulled out a compact and squinted at the mirror. Spying the mark and pressing it until she winced.

Haruhi glared at me, looking at my face with such intensity that I started to feel uncomfortable. Then, she snapped the compact shut and pointed at the mark. Snarling as she asked, "what about this?"

Trying to stay nonchalant I replied, "it's a red mark, what about it?"

"I remember now," said Haruhi. "After Yuki and Mikuru vanished, I felt all dizzy and fell onto the table."

"You should have said that you were feeling unwell," cut in Koizumi with theatrical concern. "It's clear you've become overtired and should rest for a while."

"A visit to the doctor or at least the school nurse would also be advisable," added Nagato.

"Haruhi, relax," I said, feeling the situation getting out of hand. "You're making a big deal out of nothing."

She gave a great cry of frustration. "No, I'm not Kyon," yelled Haruhi as she leapt up and pointed a finger at me. "Something weird is going on and you guys are trying to hide it!"

"Why would we do that," I said. "Look, calm down, I'm sure it was nothing."

"It was not, nothing," screamed Haruhi in near hysterical tears. "First you guys wander off, then Yuki and Mikuru vanish into thin air. Then I black out and seem to lose…."

Haruhi stopped in mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open. She stood frozen in place, still pointing an accusing finger at me. But her eyes were still moving, darting about in panic, looking at me and pleading for help.

I started to rise when Haruhi blinked and looked about. Calmness reasserting itself as she lowered her arm and smiled at me.

"That's enough of that," said a deeper voice. One filled with confidence and a deal of menace. Telling me in an instant, that I was in the presence of Haruhi's sub-conscious or whatever the hell that thing was. A being I had decided to mentally address as Suzumiya, to show my distaste for its presence.

There was a clink of crockery and Asahina bustled into the room, carrying a tray. Passing us each a cup with a smile, that faltered when she saw the sinister smirk on what was now Suzumiya's face. The contents of the tray rattling as Asahina put the tray down on the table before anything spilt. Moving around to the far side and sitting next to Koizumi without a word.

There was silence at the table as we all watched Suzumiya, waiting for her to say something. Who gave us a pleasant smile as if nothing was amiss and sipped at her tea. We all watched her as we drank ours, nerves on a knife edge. Until Suzumiya let out a relieved sigh and placed her cup on the table. Smiling again and saying, "that was lovely, thank you Mikuru."

With this Suzumiya's attitude starting to grate, I rubbed my tired eyes and sighed. "Right let's get this over with," I said. "What are we doing about this damn party of yours?"

"There's no need to rush these things, Kyon," said Suzumiya. "But you're right, I suppose we should get down to business."

Everyone sat up, feeling like they should be paying attention. While Suzumiya took a cookie and gave it a thoughtful nibble. She turned to Nagato and smiled, though our quiet companion made it a point not to meet her eye. Instead, staring at the loose collection of snacks on the table.

"Okay Yuki," said Suzumiya regardless. "I want you to handle all the lights and music, you know all the technological stuff."

Nagato considered for a moment, then said, "very well. Though remember I am no longer a data entity, so my abilities are limited to those of a normal human."

My heart jumped, having been so used to keeping such things a secret from Haruhi in the past. But since her sub-conscious had created all this in the first place, it knew all our secrets and no doubt more.

"You know," said Suzumiya. "I could bring all that back if…"

"No!" cut in Nagato with surprising force, looking at Suzumiya for the first time. "I am perfectly capable of handling your request without their aid."

"If you say so," replied Suzumiya with an amused smile. Before turning to face Asahina and making the poor girl whimper. "Now Mikuru I want you to organise the catering," Suzumiya continued. "Don't worry about expense, I want everything to be the best."

"Why don't you snap your fingers and make it happen," I cut in. "Heck, why don't you skip all this and jump us all straight to this stupid party."

Anger flashed in Suzumiya's eyes. "This party is not stupid," she shouted. "What is stupid, is your damn attitude." We glared at each other for a moment, my mind racing through various ripostes. When Asahina piped up and said, "it's fine Kyon, really it is."

I gave Asahina a sour look, especially when Suzumiya grinned in triumph. Patting Asahina on the head as she said, "there Kyon, see it's fine."

Asahina bowed her head in defeat, but Suzumiya didn't seem to notice. Instead, flicking her hair back and saying, "half the fun of these occasions, is in the organising. Watching every little thing come together, the mad rush at the last minute and the big release when it's all over."

I glared at Suzumiya, thinking that sure, it could not be fun. Putting your all into making something a success no matter the cost. But that was only when you knew that there was no other option, that it was a choice between success or failure. If you knew some supreme being could make it all happen with a wave her hand. Then it cheapened it all and it made it clear we were only here for her amusement. Playthings to act out her fantasies, at least until she got bored.

I glared at the being with Haruhi's face, that was looking oh so pleased with itself. "No," I stated. "It is not all fine."

"Well I say it is," said Suzumiya. "So that's how it's going to be."

"Yes, I imagine you'll force us to do it," I said. "Command us to play your childish games when it could all be done in an instant."

"What are you in such a rush for, Kyon," Suzumiya asked. "It's not like you've got any vital appointments to dash off to."

"Yeah, you've made sure of that," I snapped back. "Made sure we'll never have a future, never grow up or even leave that damn school."

"Who cares about all that," cried Suzumiya. "It's all boring."

"I care," I shouted.

"Well I don't," bellowed Suzumiya, shoving her face inches from mine. "We are going to make this party amazing and we are starting right now!"

Suzumiya snapped her fingers.

Everything went grey, the only sound being the click echoing through the mist. For a terrifying moment, I thought that she'd trapped me here, alone in the void.

I heard a noise behind me and turned to see a long table. Upon which were piles of paper and decorations, all in a thousand different colours. Racks of scissors, tubes of glue, rolls of tape, everything you could ever need to decorate a party. All heaped in untidy piles, waiting to be put to use.

Above me, the school's main hall came into view as the walls wrapped around me. All feeling indistinct, like it, was a dream of the place, rather than a physical building. Despite the lights hanging from the ceiling and illuminating the stage. A shroud of darkness filled the place, flowing through the air and sending a chill down my spine. A sensation not helped when I heard a faint whimper in the empty hall.

I searched about trying to locate the sound and followed it towards the table. Where a frightened sob made me crouch down a look beneath. "Kyon," asked a quiet voice and I saw Suzumiya. No Haruhi, cowering amongst the table legs.

I reached for her, but Haruhi shrank away from me. Forcing me to me crawl under and try to work my way through the crisscrossed struts.

"Kyon, what are you doing?"

The shout made me jump and I smashed my head against the underside of the table. Looking behind, I saw Suzumiya leaning down to peer at me with furrowed brows. Snapping my head back to where the cowering girl had been, only to see her gone.

"Get out from under there," demanded Suzumiya. As a sudden force yanked me back and I felt sure I passed through a few table legs before I was hurled upright.

Swaying as I tried to keep my balance, I saw the others standing behind Suzumiya, while she shook her head. She considered the hall and the table of decorations for a moment. Wandering about and prodding the various items, trying to decide what to do. While we stood there with trepidation, waiting for Suzumiya to give her orders.

Stopping to look at us and leaving a long pause as Suzumiya stood there with hands on hips. "Well come on then," she said. "get on with it."

"Get on with what?" I asked.

"Making the decorations, stupid," Suzumiya exclaimed.

"I meant what kind of decorations are you wanting?" I said. "You still haven't told us what kind of party this will be."

"Party decorations," Suzumiya answered. "For a party. It doesn't matter the occasion is."

I sighed with exasperation. "Fine," I said. "Just don't complain if you don't like them."

"Whatever," replied Suzumiya and stormed off into the shadows.

With no enthusiasm, we all seated ourselves at the table and began to work. Asahina made a few attempts at conversation, but they soon guttered out, leaving us in silence. The only sounds in the eerie hall being the gentle rustle of paper and snip of scissors. Our minds wandering in search of solutions, only finding nothing but hopelessness. My hands were slow to put together a paper chain, but it was nice to lose my mind in repetition.

But as always, the tranquillity was broken by Suzumiya. "What the hell do call this?" she demanded. Pulling the paper chain and ripping it from my hands.

"A party decoration," I replied with all the sarcasm I could muster.

"This isn't some children's birthday we're putting on Kyon," said Suzumiya. "I want a true extravaganza." Then heaving a huge box in front of me, she added, "these are the kind of decorations I wanted."

I peered in and saw a huge mass of shimmering white tinsel, interwoven with white fairy lights. All of which was far beyond our capabilities to make, especially with the tools on the table. I thought of pointing this out to Suzumiya, but I knew it was useless, positive that box hadn't existed till a moment ago.

Without acknowledging Suzumiya, I looked to Koizumi and said, "do you mind giving me a hand putting this up?"

"Of course," replied Koizumi with a smile. Grabbing one side of the box as we dragged it towards the far side of the hall.

I looked up at the high wall and the line of small windows that looked like the best place to hang the tinsel. The only problem is getting up there.

"Hey Suzumiya," I yelled. "Have you seen a ladder?"

Suzumiya looked up from the table where the three girls busied themselves. Then yelled back, "it's right there, dummy."

I followed her pointed finger to a few meters to my left, where a long wooden ladder had appeared as if by magic. I shrugged at Koizumi, who sighed back as we got to work. Laboriously we edged our way around the hall, hanging the tinsel and moving the ladder. Koizumi kept a firm grip at the bottom and while I didn't think Suzumiya would let me fall to my doom, I didn't want to chance it.

Focusing on the task at hand and trying not to look down. The background noise of Suzumiya ordering around the other two girls was the only sound in the room. I felt sorry for them and glad to be out of Suzumiya's range for a while.

As we finished the final wall I called down to Koizumi, "is that all of it?"

He looked at the box with interest, then said, "there's plenty. Actually, the amount in the box hasn't gone down at all."

As I climbed down, Koizumi leant into the box, reaching in as far as he could. Forcing me to grab the back of his collar as he overbalanced and almost fell in. Emerging breathless as I pulled him back up.

"Thanks," he said with an unnerved smile. Lifting the box up to examine the underside before adding, "it seems to extend below the level of the floor."

He offered the box to me in case that I wanted to look too. But I refused, taking Koizumi's word for it and not doubting this new break in the laws of physics. All I cared about was that the tinsel was finally up, though I knew our work was far from done.

"What are you guys dawdling about for," called Suzumiya. "Get those tables up."

There was no point in asking, as I turned fast enough to see a pile of folded tables phase in from the darkness. Soon followed by stacks of chairs that leaned in a precarious manner. Threatening to come crashing down if we didn't act fast.

In a robotic fashion, Koizumi and I set to work, struggling to lift the tables into position and unfold the legs. It was too much for us two on our own, but I didn't want to disturb Suzumiya and I was fearful of what she might do to help us. With some crashing, curses and a few bruised knuckles, we got the tables up. Taking care to arrange the chairs so that they would please our great leader.

"Mikuru, help them lay the tablecloths," commanded Suzumiya. Not looking up as a big pile of white sheets thumped down next to me. Asahina let out a squeak of affirmation and scurried over to us, though she arrived with a look of relief on her face.

As we unfurled the first cloth, which glowed white without a stain or a crease. Koizumi looked at the surrounding tables and said, "We must be expecting quite a number of guests."

Asahina's eyes skipped around as she counted and added, "I wonder who they'll be?"

"Has she said anything to you about what this party is for," I asked Asahina. "Is this all just for the hell of it?"

Koizumi and Asahina glanced at each other, grim expressions on their faces. Our brigade's long-suffering maid considered for a moment, then said, "I believe this is goodbye."

"Goodbye?" I asked.

"Miss Suzumiya or a least her subconscious, has finally grown tired of us," answered Koizumi. "Miss Nagato, Miss Asahina, myself of course and judging from her attitude, you as well."

"Why now," I asked. "She's been mad at us before, why should it be any different from any other reset?"

"Because we're tainted," replied Asahina. "A reminder that this place is isn't real, reinforcing the split in her personality. Miss Suzumiya's subconscious wants to repair that divide, to feel whole once more. But can't do that until every trace of these broken worlds is gone, which means erasing us as well."

"I still don't see why that needs to involve wiping us from existence," I said. "I'm sure whatever that subconscious thing is, it can blank our memories with a snap of her fingers."

"I'm sure she could if Miss Suzumiya's subconscious was in absolute control," said Koizumi looking up. Concerned by the ceiling, where crystal chandeliers phased in and out of existence. Adding, "But it's quite clear that she's not in control at all and is growing ever more desperate."

"I'm sure we can convince Suzumiya to keep us around though," I insisted. Sounding a little desperate myself.

Koizumi gave me a sad look and said, "I'm not sure I want to though."

"Are you serious," I exclaimed. Glancing to Asahina for support and seeing only the same sad smile.

"It's hard to stand here watching everything we love fall apart," stated Koizumi. "To see Miss Suzumiya's mind crumble and be powerless to do anything. That future world will collapse and so will any after that. Until all that's left is madness and suffering, for everyone."

"Then shouldn't we be doing something," I cried. "Instead of messing around laying tables."

"What would you suggest," replied Koizumi. "You can try talking to Miss Suzumiya, but you know she won't listen. She's stubborn and she won't let go of this plan no matter what we say."

He looked at Asahina and added, "the only thing we can do, is to enjoy what little time we have left."

Asahina's smile was small and without hope. Making me look away across the now laid tables, now covered in a fantastical array of decorations. Their mysterious and sudden appearance should have dazzled, but my heart was empty.

I looked at Suzumiya, busy at the decorating table, working in a whirlwind of frantic gestures. The intense energy rolling off her, telling me that it was her subconscious in control. Jumping from task to task with little rhyme or reason. Suzumiya was trying to explain something to Nagato, but the quiet girl wasn't listening or didn't care. That judging from the monotonous way she was making decorations, was likely the later.

Suzumiya's frustration showing, she looked at us and commanded, "good you're done, now get over here."

Without any choice or enthusiasm, we slunk towards her. Gazing at the floor rather than deal with looking at Suzumiya or each other. With a wave of her hand, Suzumiya made all the decorations vanish in a flash, even the one still in Nagato's hands. Announcing with a flourish, "right that's enough of that. Let's get to choosing dresses!"

The noise was tremendous as huge rails of dresses rolled in on either side. Making Asahina tense up with fear as her eyes tried to follow them. Glancing at me and Koizumi as she took a step backwards, but it was too late.

Wagging a finger, Suzumiya laughed as she said, "not a chance, Mikuru."

Koizumi moved to pull Asahina away, but she was yanked forwards against her will. Her squeaking heels matching her wail as she hurtled bolt upright, towards Suzumiya. Who caught Asahina in one smooth movement and span her into a spotlight that shone down from nowhere.

Without a moment to get her bearings, Asahina's uniform vanished and became a beautiful blue gown. The shock leaving Asahina's eyes vacant until she swished the skirt and watched it shimmer.

"No, it's not right," commented Suzumiya. Narrowing her eyes as she studied Asahina.

With a wave of Suzumiya's hand, the dress was replaced with a green one, that sported a much more revealing cut. Asahina hands moved to protect her modesty, cheeks growing redder as she glanced at us guys. But a disgruntled noise from Suzumiya, the dress changed once more.

Soon the dresses were flickering past so fast I doubted Suzumiya had any time to look, let alone judge them. The outfits were getting more outrageous and ever skimpier, much to Asahina's dismay. To the point where I was trying to decide whether to look away until they finished. A thought probably going through Koizumi's mind as he saw his whole body tense up.

The lightning-fast fashion show stopped without warning on a sparkling silver number. One that looked like it had come from some Brazilian carnival and left little to the imagination. Leaving Asahina's will to crumble to dust as her hands tried in vain to cover herself.

"Get those damn hands out of the way," complained Suzumiya. Marching up to pull them away and causing something to rip.

Asahina screamed and clutched at the cloth, desperate to stop any more from being torn away. Forcing Koizumi and me to spin away as more skin came on display, as we tried to block out the sound of Asahina's cries. I glanced at Nagato, but she just sat at the table on her own, heedless of the chaos in front of her.

"Stop struggling Mikuru," complained Suzumiya. "It actually looks better with this cut, so let me finish."

"Can't I just wear something more modest," pleaded Asahina.

"Nope," declared Suzumiya. "I want you looking as sexy as possible."

There was another tearing sound and Asahina screamed again. I wanted to break them up, but with my back turned I had no way of knowing Asahina's current state of dress. I glanced at Koizumi and saw he was fighting the same dilemma. Only he was under much greater strain as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. His face contorted by a mixture of anger and distress.

"Damn it Mikuru," snapped Suzumiya. "If you don't obey, I will make you go to this party naked!"

"No, please," cried Asahina.

"Would you like that," said Suzumiya. "Would you like Kyon seeing you like that?"

"No," replied Asahina with a whimper.

"Or what about Koizumi," declared Suzumiya in triumph. "Don't you think I haven't notic…"

Her voice cut off as I saw something move with astonishing speed.

"Let go of me," came Suzumiya's astonished voice and I turned to see Koizumi gripping her by the wrists.

"Enough of this," said Koizumi with a growl.

"Itsuki, please don't," cried Asahina. Making a futile attempt to pull his arm away, while trying to keep her torn dress on.

"No," replied Koizumi. "I refuse to let you be her be her plaything, any more."

"It's fine," insisted Asahina. "It's what I'm here for."

"In no world will I accept that as being fine," said Koizumi. "I will not allow this, this demon to use you like that."

As he spoke to Asahina, Koizumi didn't see how dark Suzumiya's expression had become. I stepped forward to pull him away, but it was too late.

"And what makes you think you can call me that," said Suzumiya. "What makes you think you can speak against me, Koizumi."

She was right up in his face now, Suzumiya's eyes an inch from his. The atmosphere of the hall darkening until it left us alone in an inky blackness.

"Mikuru is mine to play with and I can do whatever I want to her," said Suzumiya. "To any one of you."

I expected Koizumi to stand down, but he stood his ground.

"Then use me," Koizumi stated, spreading his arms wide. "Do what you please, make me your dress up doll, your plaything, your toy. Just let Miku… Miss Asahina be."

"And what if I refuse," replied Suzumiya with a dangerous smile. "This is my world, Koizumi. If I want to use you I will, if I want to use Mikuru I will and there is nothing you can do about it."

To punctuate her point she reached out and ripped Ashina's dress clean off her. Leaving the poor girl completely naked.

I put my hand up to block Asahina from view but was unable to take my eyes away from Koizumi and Suzumiya. His expression growing as dark as hers as they glared each other down. While Asahina whimpered, collapsing to her knees as she begged Koizumi to stop.

But he never took his eyes away from Suzumiya. Roaring, Koizumi ripped the remains of the dress from her hands and threw it back to Asahina.

"I will stop you," stated Koizumi. "I don't care if you're a god, a demon or only some monstrous part of Miss Suzumiya's mind. I will free us from this nightmare and won't stop till I do."

Suzumiya stood stunned for only a moment, but then her mouth twisted into a cruel sneer.

"Why do refuse to understand Koizumi," she said in a soft voice. "I'm the real Haruhi Suzumiya, I am the one in control. You are my toys to play with and I can do whatever I want with you."

Suzumiya leaned in close, putting her finger on Koizumi's chest.

"And now it's time for this toy to go back in the toy box."

As Suzumiya jabbed her finger there was a sudden cloud of grey smoke. That flowed around the pair like a whirlwind, before spiralling off into the darkness.

As it cleared Suzumiya was standing there alone, with an almost surprised look on her face. One that vanished in an instant, to be replaced with a look of triumph as she looked at the floor.

I followed her eyes down to a small object, standing at Suzumiya's feet. It took a second for my mind to process what was seeing, but then I realised that it was a figurine.

A tiny version of Koizumi, looking like some merchandise you would find in manga store. Forever frozen in a casual shrug, with a soft smile on his painted lips.

There was silence for a moment and then Asahina screamed.

Leaping forward, Asahina grabbed the figure and held it against her chest. Heedless of her nudity, she curled around it, desperate to protect it from harm. Sobs bursting forth as she whispered words of comfort to the small piece of plastic.

"Get up," said Suzumiya. Giving Asahina's side a light kick as she added, "we've still got to find a dress for you."

Asahina's head twisted out of the ball she had curled herself into. Staring up at Suzumiya with a look of incredulity on her tear-filled eyes. Making Suzumiya step away with a nervous air.

Standing slowly, Asahina placed the figurine on the table with the utmost tenderness. Then turned towards Suzumiya and bowed.

"Please turn him back," asked Asahina in a hurried squeak.

Suzumiya seemed rather taken aback by the naked girl begging in front of her. But that faded as she put a hand on her hip and said, "No. I warned him there would be repercussions and this is his punishment."

"Please Miss Suzumiya," begged Asahina. "I'll do anything you want, just, please. Please turn him back."

Giving the question only a moment's consideration, Suzumiya shook her head. "Nope," she said. "Koizumi stays as he is and that is my final decision."

There was silence again as Asahina soundlessly open and closed her mouth. She took another look at the figurine on the table and then turned back to Suzumiya. Asahina's sobs spreading through her entire body, her breathing ragged in anguish.

Suzumiya took another step back, seeing Asahina's pain turn to anger. But it wasn't far enough as Ashina's pretty face twisted into a snarl. Her scream of rage only cut short only by the crack as Asahina slapped Suzumiya hard across the face.

The only person more stunned than me was Suzumiya. Touching her reddening cheek as she gaped at Asahina in disbelief. Looking like she was about to say something, but was silenced by another slap from the other side.

"Give him back to me," screamed Asahina. Crying it over and over again as she rained blows upon Suzumiya. Who staggered back trying to block Asahina, but it was completely in vain.

As Asahina ran out of breath, she raised the palm of her hand a final time. With all her might, she swung it at Suzumiya, but it never connected.

A rush of grey smoke swirled around the pair and again when it cleared, Suzumiya was alone.

At her feet, a figurine rolled on its side and I didn't have to examine it to know that it was Asahina. A miniature girl wearing a pink waitress outfit and raising a pair of fingers to one mismatched eye.

Suzumiya stepped around the figurine, as if she feared Asahina might still attack. Seeing me watching her, Suzumiya hid her fear and switched to a purposeful stride. I could see tears in her eyes and slight quiver at the edges of her mouth, but she strode on.

Grabbing her shoulder, I said, "Hey, hold on a sec."

"What is it Kyon?" Suzumiya answered. Shoving my hand away.

"Aren't you going to turn them back?" I said. Waving a hand at the two figurines.

With a slight glance in their direction, Suzumiya said in a quavering voice. "They attacked me. They've never done that before and I won't have it."

"What were you expecting, after the stuff you were doing?" I exclaimed.

Expressions flashed across Suzumiya's face as emotions boiled away underneath. Before settling on something that lay between anger and obstinance. "That's irrelevant," she snapped. "They assaulted me and that is their punishment."

"So now Koizumi and Asahina are stuck like that for all eternity," I said. "With no chance to straighten things out or even apologise?"

Suzumiya had turned her back to me now and was starting to walk away. Stopping, she waved a dismissive hand and said, "fine. I will think about it after the party."

"You're still intent on having one," I asked.

Rounding on me, Suzumiya exclaimed, "of course."

"You expect us to help you after all that," I snapped. "Even if we did it would take forever between me and Nagato."

I gestured towards Nagato who was still sitting at the table as if nothing had occurred. At first, I thought she hadn't moved, but then I saw that she had placed the two figurines on the table. Shielding Koizumi and Asahina with her arms, as if to keep them from Suzumiya's sight. Nagato was ignoring us, but I could hear her whispering to the figurines. Perhaps hoping to reassure them in some way or maybe it was for herself.

Suzumiya glanced at Nagato, before returning her irritable glare to me. "I don't care," she said. "The pair of you will make this party happen or you'll suffer the same fate."

"It was nigh on impossible with Asahina and Koizumi helping," I said. "To make this 'extravaganza' happen how you want it, will be impossible now. So, either turn them back or turn us into toys and organise this stupid thing yourself."

"It's not stupid," bellowed Suzumiya. Calming herself before she added, "but you know fine. I thought this was a fun thing to do together, but I was wrong. It's clear that if want to have something done right, I really do have to do everything myself."

Raising her hand, Suzumiya snarled and snapped her fingers.

Then, everything exploded.

Light, colour, sound. My senses deluged by a thousand sensations all at once. My mind reeling as it tried to make sense out of the chaos.

My brain felt like it was going to melt from the deluge and I was thankful when the world began to coalesce around me. I was back in the school's main hall, but the whole place seemed to be phasing in and out of a royal palace's grand ballroom. The old decorations were gone, replaced by a sight straight out of the movies. Beautiful, if gaudy decor that sparkled beneath thousands of shimmering lights. The bass of the party music, vibrating through me and making everything feel alive.

As I stared in awe, Suzumiya beamed with pride. Standing dramatic flourish and gesturing towards the hall as she unveiled her handiwork. Grey smoke enveloping her and transforming her uniform into a sparkling ball gown. Leaving me still in awe of how beautiful she looked, despite everything that had happened. My expression making Suzumiya's million-megawatt smile glow even brighter.

With a giggle, Suzumiya grabbed my hand, sending a tingling sensation all over my body. Smoke swirled past my eyes and I looked down at my hands to see the blue cuffs of my blazer fading away. My uniform transforming into the sharp black and white form of a tailor-made tuxedo.

But I had little time to admire my new attire before Suzumiya pulled me into her arms. Sending us spinning around the dance floor. My feet falling in time with hers, despite having never danced like this before. The music rose as looked down into the lights that sparkled in Suzumiya's eyes.

The moment was so magical it was hard not to get lost in it. The thoughts of what had happened to Koizumi and Asahina fading as I danced with Suzumiya. I tried to push back, forcing my mind to look around for Nagato, but I couldn't see her.

Shapes danced around us, phantom clothed in costumes from thousand different eras. All swirling in and out of each other, moving more like a liquid than real people. The hall filling with colours that shifted in an almost psychedelic fashion.

I felt a delicate hand touch my cheek. "Don't worry about all that," said Suzumiya in a soft voice. "Let's just lose ourselves in this moment."

She sounded so seductive as I became mesmerised by her gaze. The flecks of starlight in her eyes filling my vision and destroying all other thought. It felt like I could here Suzumiya's voice in my head, telling me to, 'forget about it all and let go.'

The music rose again until it was all I could hear, the colours around us blurring together into one huge mass. The motion of the room sending me and Suzumiya spinning off into the throng. I couldn't think anymore, I could only dance.

I had no concept of how long we danced, all I knew was the look in Suzumiya's eyes as she gazed up at me. A tiny part of my brain was screaming, yelling at me to break free. But I couldn't, it was like my body wouldn't let me.

With my last remaining bit of mental strength, I looked out of the corner of my eyes. Searching the mass of colours for any way of escape, something different that I could latch my mind onto. My fading hope, pleading for some way to break free.

Then I saw it. A small figure standing alone in the chaos.

I caught a glimpse of lavender hair and then Suzumiya spun me away.

The moment had been slight, but it had been enough. Wrenching my head back and forth to search the hall for another sight of Nagato. Catching sight of her for a brief moment, the one solid form in the whirlwind of insanity.

"Hey, pay attention," snapped Suzumiya. Gripping my cheeks in one hand and pulling my face to look at her.

But her mental grasp on me was slipping and I felt my feet losing their rhythm. It wasn't long before a yelp from Suzumiya signalled that I had lost it completely and she shoved me away. Hopping backwards as she glared at me.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Kyon," cried Suzumiya.

I felt so woozy I had a hard time standing, the phantom dancers still spinning around me like a kaleidoscope. Clutching at my head, I closed my eyes, trying to maintain a grip on this excuse for reality.

"Sorry," I said, trying not to throw up. "I believe, I may have danced a little too much. Do you mind if we take a break?"

Her expression filled with suspicion, but Suzumiya soon flicked it away. "Fine," she snapped. "It was getting boring anyway."

I staggered to a table and collapsed into a chair. "Give me five minutes," I said with a vague wave. "Then we can get right back to it."

"Nah," replied Suzumiya. Considering for a moment before declaring, "I've got a far better idea."

"Really," I asked with mounting apprehension.

"Oh yes," announced Suzumiya. "This is something you've never seen before and will absolutely blow your mind."

"Okay," I answered. Not liking the sound of having my mind blown, even if it was only a figure of speech.

"Just stay there while I sort it out," said Suzumiya. Not paying attention to me anymore, as the idea in her head took hold.

She shot off into the dancers, not caring if ran straight through them. Leaving me sitting there alone like an idiot, waiting for Suzumiya's next scheme to come to fruition. Only I wasn't alone, for quiet as always, Nagato appeared next to me. Though it was so normal for her, it only made me smile instead of taking me by surprise.

"What do you think she's going to do," I asked. More out of conversation than curiosity. "These days I've no idea what crazy or idiotic thing Suzumiya will come up with next."

There was a pause as we watched Suzumiya walk out onto the stage, now sporting on elaborate punk rock outfit. The head of a guitar sticking up from behind her back, which bounced as she waved to us.

"Actually, I find Suzumiya's behaviour to be rather predictable," said Nagato. "To the point where it is becoming a concern."

"A concern," I asked. "How can you be worried about knowing what that mad woman is going to do."

On stage, Suzumiya adjusted the microphone with a screech of feedback. Flinching and then standing proud as she announced, "hello North High."

The lights dimmed, and spotlights raced towards her. Highlighting Suzumiya as slid the guitar into her hands with utmost grace. Around Nagato and I the phantom crowd shifted, moving towards the stage in a great wave. Their forms shifting as casual clothes replaced their dresses and suits. Thousands of glowing batons rising in the air as cheers roared around us.

"I hope you're all ready for this because here's something you've never heard before," cried Suzumiya. "Let's rock!"

The blast of sound as she burst into song, almost drove me out my senses. But as the guitar wailed and Suzumiya sang, I immediately realised that I had heard it all before.

It felt identical, almost down to note. The only real differences being Suzumiya's outfit and that Nagato wasn't with her on stage. Instead, ghosts moved as if they were playing, one of them even wearing a witch's hat. But Nagato was still right next to me, looking for my reaction.

"She's repeating herself over and over," said Nagato in a voice I could hardly hear over the din. "The same ideas, the same dreams, until there's nothing new anymore." Pausing for a moment, Nagato watched Suzumiya on stage, then added, "there is comfort in that status quo."

"Sounds like a nightmare," I commented. "Heck I know it is."

Nagato looked up at me. "I've been there," she said. "Living the same summer over and over. Everything controlled, no surprises, just spending time with those you love. It can be nice to live without any cares in the world."

"I guess so," I said. "But you've got to get back to reality some time."

"Indeed," replied Nagato. "You become numb to everything around you, just living in your own head. Heedless of those you're hurting or what you're doing to your own mind. Then by the time you've realised it, you've locked yourself in a prison of your own creation."

"And this is what Suzumiya's done," I asked. Then as I considered the concept, I added, "Does that make us her jailors?"

"That's up to you," Nagato answered. "We can be, or we can be the ones to free her."

"Can she be released," I asked. "Suzumiya seems pretty determined to stay."

Nagato considered the question, then said, "I do not know. But Suzumiya or the being that calls herself such, will go mad if she stays. This downward spiral will only worsen, and it will drag us down with it. This dream will become a cell for her, one that Suzumiya will never escape."

I looked up at Suzumiya, screaming her way through another song. Grinning and waving at the phantom audience, as if they were all real. This party was an illusion, the guests a figment, even her friends were dreams. But she didn't care whether it was real or not any more. Was there even anyway of making her care?

"I don't think Suzumiya wants to escape," I said. "She'll never see this place for what it really is."

"I know, but you have to try to convince Suzumiya of the truth," said Nagato. Looking at the figurines on the table as she added, "otherwise we will be better off like that."

"But what is the truth for her," I said. "If Suzumiya's been here for as long as we think, she may not have even the slightest clue."

Nagato looked down as she considered this. "Then the other option is to drive Suzumiya out," Nagato said. "Remove everything that makes her happy from this place."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with hurting her like that," I said.

"It's that or sit here watching her while she does it to herself," replied Nagato. "You will have to be cruel to be kind or this place will become a true nightmare."

"You make it sound so easy," I said.

"I'm sorry, Kyon," said Nagato. "But you're the one that must do this, you have the greatest hold on her heart. I'll just make sure there's nothing else to keep her here."

Then as Suzumiya changed to a slow song, Nagato grabbed my hand.

The phantom crowd shifted again and began to sway in pairs around the dance floor. Nagato pulled me close and we joined the dancers, moving in a slow rhythm to the Suzumiya's love song. I'd never been much of dancer and the difference in our heights only made it even more awkward. But we settled into a slow side step, not thinking of anything as Nagato's head rested against my chest. I couldn't see her face, but the heat radiating from her was palpable. I tried to remember we had danced like this before, but I couldn't remember it and I wondered if she could.

I looked at Suzumiya on the stage as she sang, her brow sweating despite the slow pace of the song. She glanced down at us and without a break in her song Suzumiya frowned. Making me stumble and I only just avoided stepping on Nagato's tiny feet. She gasped as we twisted in a desperate attempt to keep balance, staggering this way and that.

Suzumiya's amused smile grated on me and I made a show of ignoring her. Forcing myself to dance and holding Nagato in a firmer grip to stop myself from falling.

But without warning, my legs were pulled out from under me, as if great chains had wrapped around them. I crashed onto my back, sending a jarring pain up my spine and the driving the wind from my lungs. I saw Nagato above me for a moment and I braced myself to catch her.

Closing my eyes as I grimaced, I didn't see the small object hit my chest and bounce off. Plastic clattering in the sudden silence that grew as Suzumiya's song came to an abrupt end.

I didn't need to look to know what had happened, my hand reaching out to pick up the figurine. Which stood in a tall witch's hat, ready to play the guitar in its tiny hands. With a sigh, I cradled Nagato in my hands and looked up towards the stage.

Suzumiya looked back, judging my response. Then without a word, she snorted and left the stage. The crowd fading away and leaving me alone in the darkness as the sparkling disco ball above span.

Standing, I went over to the table to place Nagato with the figures of Koizumi and Asahina. The loneliness of the hall and the silent party crushing my heart as I straightened them out. Almost hoping that they would say something or give a hint that they were still aware.

Looking towards the stage again and seeing no sign of Suzumiya, I felt no desire to wait around till she came back. Anger welling inside of me as I glared at the gaudy farce that filled the hall. I was not going to wait around for Suzumiya to turn me into another doll for her collection. She could party to her heart's content with the ghosts for I cared right now.

Stamping through the hall, I searched for an exit, but found only fakes. The emergency release bars painted across the wood to just give the impression of a door. But instead of despairing, it drove into darker depths of anger. Refusing to be defeated, I punched and kicked the doors. Glaring at the sign above that mocked me with the word 'Exit.' My heart thumping and my adrenaline pumping, I charged at the doors with every bit of strength I had.

The sudden rush of cool night air was so surprising that I didn't even think to brake. My legs barrelling me forwards as I careered out of control and crashed against a metal railing. Knocking the breath out of me as I heaved in great gulps of fresh air.

I looked around as I got my head together, following the line of the terrace I was standing on. Out to the playing field, then the town and bay beyond. Feeling sure that I'd exited the hall on the wrong side to see this view, but an error this minor no longer surprised me.

The night sky above me twinkled with stars as the Milky Way flowed towards the horizon. Vega and Altair shone as bright as the moon, gazing down upon me from on high. The whole tableau would have been quite romantic if the situation was that way inclined.

"You know, I was saving this place for later, Kyon," said a voice.

"Do you honestly think I'm in the mood for all that?" I said. Looking back to see Suzumiya standing in the doorway, the night breeze ruffling her hair. Back in her evening gown and showing no sign of her time on stage.

"Well, I thought I might be able to change your mind," replied Suzumiya with a mischievous smile.

"You can force me to if you want or straight turn me into a doll if I refuse," I snapped.

"Don't be like that, Kyon," Suzumiya said. "Why are so determined to not have fun today. I know you can be stubborn at times, but tonight you've been particularly troublesome. Come back inside and re-join the party, is it so hard to enjoy spending time with me?"

"I'd rather spend time with the real Haruhi Suzumiya," I muttered.

She blinked and looked puzzled for a moment before saying, "but I am the real the Haruhi Suzumiya?"

"Not you, the other Suzumiya," I snapped. "That girl whose body you inhabit and drag around against her will."

Suzumiya looked down at herself, still looking confused. "This is a shell," she said. "An avatar if you will. Sure, they have a little bit of autonomy, for when I'm bored or busy. But this body doesn't have any actual individuality, nothing that you could call real."

I recalled the look of terror on Haruhi, this apparent shell had shown me before. Petrified of something that she didn't understand, living a broken life at the behest of this being. That emotion had been real to me, but this god refused to see it. Like so many things, Suzumiya turned a blind eye to anything that didn't agree with her or destroyed it.

"She as real as I am," I pointed out. "Because none of this is. Me, the Brigade, this school and especially that stupid party. Do you actually see all the stuff in there as genuine, because it all looked fake to me and I'm part of this delusion!"

"Well, I had wanted to take my time setting it all up, get everything perfect," Suzumiya snapped. "But no, you four were always messing around and I had to rush everything. Despite what you think Kyon, I can't snap my fingers and create a whole world. It all has to visualised, crafted, otherwise you end up with a mess."

"Well, you could have made that clear, instead of turning the others into toys," I stated. "We're your creations, you can give whatever orders you want, and we have no choice but to obey."

"But that's not how I want to do it," insisted Suzumiya, looking disheartened. "I want you, to want to do these things. To enjoy making stuff happen, it's no fun if I force you to obey."

"Do you think I care whether all this is fun or not," I said. "Why does it even matter if I am enjoying this. Just decide on what's fun for you and get on with it, it's not like you need my permission or anything."

"You don't get it Kyon, it does matter," pleaded Suzumiya.

"Why does it," I asked. "Why would you, this thing, this god that calls itself Haruhi Suzumiya, care about what I want or do?"

Suzumiya or whoever she was, looked a little stung by words. But before she spoke looked down for a moment, blushing a little as if from embarrassment. Then saying in an awkward voice, "because you're my main character, Kyon."

There was a silence as I tried to process this lunatic's words. Her uneven smile believing that what she'd said was the most reasonable concept in the world.

"I'm a what?" I said in disbelief.

"The MC, the hero, the protagonist of my story," said Suzumiya. Her smile now becoming giddy with happiness. "The dour high school boy who's swept away by a mysterious girl on a whirlwind adventure. Racing off to see amazing sights and meet all kinds of incredible people."

Her dress glittered in the moonlight as Suzumiya danced about with excitement. Humming to a tune, as she became lost in the fantastical world of her own imagination.

"And let me guess," I said. "You're the one that gets to whisk me away?"

"Of course," replied Suzumiya with a cheeky grin. Beaming with happiness and forgetting the nightmare that her whirlwind adventure had become.

"So, when does the next wild ride start or am I going to be stuck here for a while," I asked.

The joy faded as her irritation returned. "Why are you always in such a rush," said Suzumiya. "I know this party didn't go to plan, but you know, we can still have some fun."

Suzumiya battered her eyelashes and gave me a bashful smile. But I turned away and said, "because I'm sick of this wretched place. If you're going to start anew, then you might as well get it over and done with. Failing that, turn me into one of those toys like the others."

Taken aback by my last comment. "There's no need for that," Suzumiya said. "I know I need to straighten things out, but this time I'm going to make sure everything is absolutely perfect."

"And how many times have you said that," I asked.

Suzumiya opened her mouth but paused to consider. "Well maybe a few times," she said. "But I'm this close to perfection I'm sure of it."

"Do you even know what this perfect world looks like," I pointed out.

"Of course I do, it's a feeling you know," Suzumiya answered. "When I find it, I'll know."

"Are you sure of that," I said. "Because when I saw all those iterations, those lives you threw away. They all looked like everything that lonely girl in the club room would wish for."

Suzumiya staggered back, shaking at her head. "No, how did you," she stammered. "No, that was all a lie, a folly, what you saw in that stupid machine wasn't real."

"It was real Suzumiya, probably about the only real thing I've ever seen," I insisted. "That and the woman alone her apartment, gazing at the stars. Dreaming of the perfect school life she had never had."

Suzumiya's features flickered, an older pair of eyes glaring at me for a moment, wreathed in anger. "Stop telling lies!" she screamed. Swiping her hand through the air and launching me backwards until I crashed into the railing.

With a cough, I looked up at her with a grim smile. Tears in her rage-filled eyes as Suzumiya raised her hand again for another strike. Unafraid, I said, "It's true and somewhere inside, you know it."

"No, it's not," answered Suzumiya. "That's was just another world I created at some point, a mistake that I won't repeat."

"Do you even remember all the iterations that you've brought into being," I asked. "What happened to them all, what went wrong?"

"Of course I do," Suzumiya stammered in a way that wasn't convincing.

"Then, do know how long you've been here," I asked. "Here, in this fantasy or dream or whatever the hell this place is?"

"I err, it's been…" Suzumiya stammered. Before demanding, "why do you keep asking all these dumb questions, Kyon. Who the hell cares how long it's been?"

"I care," I snapped back. "I want to know who you really are Haruhi Suzumiya, if that's even your real name?

"What else would it be," said Suzumiya.

"I don't know," I replied. "But I can't help but wonder if you actually know or just assume it is. If you've forgotten your real name or have chosen to forget it?

"MY NAME IS HARUHI SUZUMIYA!" She bellowed. Her sentence punctuated by a massive thunderclap that jumped out of the clear night sky. Breathless Suzumiya stood over me, glaring until some sense returned. Before straightening up and adding in a calmer voice, "there is no way I'd forget that. I'll admit I may lost track of a few things, but nothing important."

"Fine," I said. "But can you at least answer me one other question, one that should be easy enough to remember."

Suzumiya gave a tired sigh, then said, "alright, let's hear it."

Though I had so many questions I could ask the apparent god of this mixed up world, there was one that had stuck with me. An answer that eluded me, no matter how far back I tried to remember. Even though I was sure I'd known it once, long ago.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, keeping myself as calm as possible. Then I looked into Suzumiya's starlit eyes and said.

"What is my name?"

She blinked and tilted her head, looking at me like I was the one who had gone mad. Before saying, "it's Kyon, dummy."

"No," I said, looking dead into her eyes. "My real name."

"Oh, that name, it's erm," started Suzumiya, breaking eye contact as she searched about for an answer. "I think, wasn't it something royal sounding."

"Surely you, my creator, should know this," I insisted. "Because I sure don't."

"I know it, I know it," replied Suzumiya in panic. "It's on the tip of my tongue."

"My name," I said. "What is it?"

"Shut up a minute and let me think," cried Suzumiya.

Eyes wild, Suzumiya muttered names to herself, dismissing them one after the other. The wind started to roar through the trees, blowing her hair into her eyes. Until she roughly pushed it away and pulled out her yellow ribbon. Wrapping and unwrapping her hands in the strip of silk in desperation, as she tried to remember.

"You do remember, don't you?" I insisted.

Suzumiya's scream seemed to fill the world with despair. "What do you want from me," she bellowed. The cry reaching a crescendo as Suzumiya clutched at her skull.

Then, the air popped, and all sound ceased. The trees stopped in mid-sway and there was an eerie stillness to the world. Suzumiya was frozen in her scream for a moment, then went limp and slumped forwards.

My body moving on automatic, I slid to catch Suzumiya before she smashed into the concrete. As I cradled her in my arms, I looked at her sleeping face and marvelled at how innocent she looked. Making it almost impossible to believe that she was some kind of malevolent god. Brushing her hair back, she opened her eyes and looked up at me with an expression full of fear.

"What, where am I?" the girl stammered, her eyes searching for clues. Her cheeks flushing as she realised she was in my arms. This wasn't the mad god that tormented me, only the scared high school girl that she called her avatar.

"What's happening to me Kyon," continued Haruhi. "It feels like I've been stuffed away in a closet for hours and hours. Only in the distance, I thought I could hear the sounds of a party and you arguing with someone."

"I don't have time to explain," I said. "But if that happens again I need you to do something for me."

Haruhi looked so confused and frightened, but she managed to answer with, "what's that?"

"I want you to fight," I said. "The force that's keeping you in that place, I want you to fight it with everything you have. To break free and try to find a way to the surface."

She looked so confused and I had no idea if she really understood. But Haruhi still nodded and said in a nervous whisper, "okay."

"It's important Haruhi," I said, locking her eyes with mine. "I need you to fight this thing. For me, for the others and especially for you."

I leaned in and gave Haruhi a light kiss on the forehead, hearing her gasp as I did so. But when I pulled back her face had changed, a cruel smile marring her features.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice," said Suzumiya. Pushing me away and striking a haughty pose as she stood over me.

"That thing has no power against me, no matter how hard she tries," said Suzumiya. Though I was glad to hear a snarl of irritation in her voice as she forced something down. With a flick of her hair she added, "Anyway, in answer to your earlier question. No, I don't know your real name. But when I fix all this I'll give you a new one, how does that sound?"

I sighed and said, "That's not the point. My name could be Lord Nobunaga for all I care. The problem is that you forgot my, the person you call your main character's name. Something that kind of important, considering our relationship over the millennia."

"It's hardly been millennia," scoffed Suzumiya.

"You trapped us in the same summer for nigh on six hundred years," I said. "Which makes me sure that this whole thing has been going on for a millennia, if not more."

"Did I?" said Suzumiya, her eyes searching for confirmation.

"I'd tell you to check with Nagato, but you silenced her," I said. "She could have given you an exact number of times we went to a festival or went to the pool."

A spark of recollection jumped across Suzumiya's face. "Oh that," she said. "Wasn't it fun finding that perfect summer together?"

"If you say so," I said. "But I'm glad Nagato wasn't here to hear you say that."

Dismissing me with a wave of her hand, Suzumiya retorted, "like I care what she thinks."

"And that's the problem," I said with a sigh. "You don't care about what we think. Not Nagato, nor Koizumi or Asahina. Not even me."

"I do care what you think, Kyon," said Suzumiya, sounding a little hurt.

"No, you don't," I said. "Regardless of what I say here, you're going to reset everything and pretend it never happened. Then we'll be back to going through this sorry mess all over again."

"Not this time," stated Suzumiya. "This time I'll finally get everything right. None of these interfering old memories or rebellious thoughts. We will live a perfect high school life and if everything goes according to plan, I'll let us live on into adulthood."

She stood triumphant, her eyes blazing in a way that was awe-inspiring and terrifying. But I felt I'd seen it too often now and it only fed into the doubts that grew inside my heart.

"How many times have you said that," I asked, giving her puzzled expression a tired look. "Do you know what this perfect world looks like, how many times will we go through this. I mean have we had this conversation before, do you even know?"

That frightened look crossed her face again as Suzumiya searched her memory. But then she shrugged it away again and said, "who cares, it's in the past anyway."

"I care!" I snapped, jumping up her face. "Yes, you created me and I know that makes me your plaything, to do with as you please."

"I don't see you like that," exclaimed Suzumiya in defence.

Ignoring her I continued, "but that makes you responsible for us. You've put us all through so much and still you don't care what happens as long as you're having fun."

Taking a step back, Suzumiya stammered, "How can you think I don't care?"

"Because your reaction to any problem, has always been to wipe them away, rather than deal with them," I replied. "To close your eyes to the truth and reset the world to a state of blissful ignorance. Pretend that you smile down on us with benevolence, when all you cause is endless suffering."

"I'm not making anyone suffer," Suzumiya said. "It's just a bit of harmless fun. Getting to live those halcyon days of the youth, only better. Not the drudgery of real school life, but the bright world that they show on TV and you read about in books."

I starred at Suzumiya, trying to comprehend how she refused to see the truth of this fantasy she'd created. But the smile as she made her claims, was faltering. The confidence in her voice cracking, as doubts circled inside. Perhaps if I pushed a little harder I could force her to accept reality.

"How can you be so blinkered Suzumiya," I said. "This place is crumbling around you and you refuse to see it. Our bleeding memories, this farce of a party, is only the surface of the decay that has taken hold here."

"But I can fix it," insisted Suzumiya. "Why won't you believe me when I say that I can. I assure you next time will be perfect."

"It won't be," I said shaking my head. Then glaring at her I added, "Because I won't let it."

Suzumiya staggered back from the jab of my finger, bumping against the rough wall of the main hall. She looked up at me as towered over her, eyes wide with fear. I took a deep breath and readied myself for my ultimatum.

"I don't know how, but I will find a way to make myself remember," I said. "Regardless of how many times you try to paste over the cracks. I will make sure the others remember and turning them against you one by one. Even those outside the brigade."

"Then I make these girls, these avatars, as you call them. I will make them rebel against you, fight you with all the strength they have. Until there is nowhere left for you to hide, no one left to protect you. Force you to see that this insane fantasy of yours, is actually, a nightmare."

A whimper escaped her throat and Suzumiya pressed a clutched fist to her chest. Her face bowed, I only caught the edge of a grimace on her lips and I wondered if the girl she inhabited had heard my words. It seemed to take some effort for Suzumiya to raise her face to mine and I was expecting to see it twisted with rage.

Instead, tears streamed from Suzumiya's starlit eyes, lips quivering with anguish. Until she pleaded, "Do you," she pleaded, "do you really hate me that much?"

Before I could answer, Suzumiya jumped to her feet and shoved me aside. Running at full pelt towards the terrace's railing and for a moment I thought she was going to leap over. But at the last moment, she turned and ran alongside the railing, her fingers brushing it for guidance. The clatter of heels accelerating as she vanished around the corner of the hall.

But as she turned, the whole terrace began to distort. The long metal railing whipping around like a snake as the world twisted to being Suzumiya back in sight. Straightening out into a strip of paving that vanishing off into the darkness ahead. Running blind, Suzumiya's shoes flew off her feet as she disappeared into the distance.

Before I could decide if there was any point in giving chase, Suzumiya shot past me. Looking at me aghast for a second, before racing off again. Dancing past her fallen shoes and vanishing into the darkness again.

The sound of naked feet on stone made me look behind me and I saw the terrace stretching off in the other direction. Suzumiya staggered towards me breathless, her face a mixture of terror and confusion. Stumbling as she turned about, Suzumiya raced back the way she'd come. Glancing back and forth to keep track of her, it wasn't long before she came staggering back the other way.

Letting out a cry of dismay, Suzumiya forced herself forward. Only to trip on her own abandoned shoes and awkwardly fall to the paving. Fresh sobs emerging from beneath her bedraggled hair as she forced herself back up. Turning in an almost drunken fashion and charging at the wall with a scream of rage.

I expected Suzumiya to crash into it, but as she placed her hands on the bricks a door appeared. Letting her stumble through to the sound of scraping furniture. Following her, I found myself not in the main hall, but in a small club room.

Glancing back at the impossible terrace, still stretching into infinity. I stepped inside the old literature club room, home of the long-suffering SOS Brigade. Where chairs had been cast aside in a circle around Suzumiya, who sat on the floor with her back against the table. Gasping for breath as she glowered at me through the gaps in her hair.

"What did you do, Kyon?" Suzumiya demanded.

"Me," I said. "I didn't do anything. You're the one that controls everything here."

"No, you've done something," Suzumiya insisted. "You've confused me, nothing makes sense anymore. I hadn't realised you hated me this much, is this like, your revenge against me?"

I knelt beside her and I lifted her face so Suzumiya could see the concern in mine. "This isn't about hate or revenge," I said. "This is about making you see the truth."

"Truth?" Suzumiya asked.

I looked about at the club room, which looked the same as it always had. Nagato's books, Koizumi's games, Asahina's costumes and tea set. The sight of three figurines on a high shelf brought back dim memories of the SOS Brigade's adventures here. It was home for me, but for Suzumiya, it had been a refuge. The girl who had wished for us had hidden in here from the world and then it became something different.

"Suzumiya, this place is a prison," I said as I sat down next to her. "An asylum of your own making."

She shook her head in slow distressed arcs. "No, no it's not," Suzumiya said. "It's a paradise, a place to live the perfect high school life."

"If it was such a paradise, why are never happy with it," I asked.

"Please believe me, I haven't got it quite right yet," Suzumiya answered in a weak voice.

"No, it's because deep down you know this isn't real. Not this world, not the SOS Brigade." I took a deep breath and added, "Not even me."

"Does being real matter," asked Suzumiya. "If it means I'm happy."

"But you're not happy here," I said. "If you were, you would have found your paradise long ago. Instead of searching forever for an impossible idyll.

"It's not impossible," insisted Suzumiya. "It only needs a tweak here and there. Then in my heart, I'll know when it's right.

I began to wonder if it was ever possible to get through to her. "It won't be" I continued. "Because deep down you know this is all fake. The happiness, excitement and especially love, is all a lie."

Her eyes went wide and Suzumiya looked like she was about to cry again. "You mean you've never loved me," she exclaimed. "Not ever?"

"Of course I do," I said with a sigh, as I struggled to get my point across. "But only you made me that way."

"You said it yourself," I continued. "I'm your main character. The hero who falls for the heroine over the course of their adventure together. But that love is born from the story you wrote for me, a fiction you made for yourself. Empty of meaning compared to what you would experience out there in the real world."

This truth finally cut into Suzumiya as she pulled her knees up to her chest. Where behind crossed arms she muttered, "I don't think I had much luck with love in the real world either."

"I can love you as hard as I can," I said. "But it will never fill your heart like the real thing. Something I'm sure it waits for you out there somewhere. Because I'm sure the real you is as amazing, as the girl sitting next to me."

Suzumiya gave a dispirited laugh. "You're probably only saying that because I wrote you to."

"Maybe," I replied with a shrug. "But I know whoever you meet will be very lucky to feel the love you've given to me."

Giving me playful shove, Suzumiya said, "are you sure I wrote you. Because I'm sure I'd never have let a character of mine say something that cheesy."

Both our laughs sounded tired, fading into a silence that magnified this empty world. Suzumiya looked at me with a sad smile, eyes red from her tears.

"So, you think I should leave this place," Suzumiya said in a quiet voice. "Return to whatever awaits me outside."

"Things will only get worse if you stay here," I said. "Even if I don't do anything, the cracks will spread and the molehills will become mountains. Turning this paradise into your very own slice of hell."

Suzumiya contemplated this for a while, then stood to look out the club room window. Staring at the stars which flickered in strange, unnatural rhythms. Without looking back at me she said, "you do realise that when I leave, all this ends. This world, the others and you, will cease to exist."

It wasn't a surprise, I knew that the only the way Suzumiya could ever be free was to leave me behind. That didn't mean it was a pleasant thing to contemplate, but it had to be done. Maybe it had even been my true purpose, forgotten in the chaos of Suzumiya's creation.

I took a deep breath and said, "I know."

The sadness showed on her face as Suzumiya accepted my answer. Still, she clung on as Suzumiya added, "What about the others, do you think they'll be okay with it?"

"If you hadn't turned them into toys I'd tell you to ask them yourself," I said. "But I have no doubt that they would agree with me."

"I think I'd rather ask," said Suzumiya. "You never know, they might want to stay here with me and I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to stick around a little longer."

I frowned at the desperation in Suzumiya's voice, searching for one final reprieve.

"Yeah I will," said Suzumiya with forced determination. Raising a hand before adding, "and Kyon, they're figures, not toys."

Unphased by the correction, I watched Suzumiya smile and snap her fingers.

The rest of the SOS Brigade appeared in the blink of an eye, looking about with confused expressions. Asahina was thankful to be back in her school uniform and patted the skirt with a grateful smile. Moving closer to Koizumi as he looked between Suzumiya and I with concern. While Nagato tilted her head with curiosity and adjusted her glasses.

Feeling their eyes on us, Suzumiya and I both turned to greet them. As Koizumi asked, "is everything okay?"

Suzumiya looked at me with an awkward blush and ran a hand through her hair. "This is kind of difficult to explain," she said.

"You're leaving aren't you," cut in Nagato. Making Asahina's eye widen as Koizumi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," said Suzumiya with a hollow laugh. "Well, Kyon thinks it would be for the best."

They looked at me and I said, "you know as well as I do that this place is becoming a nightmare. So I feel it would be best for Suzumiya, and for us, if it ends here. Even if it means we will, to be blunt, die."

I let those words sink in before adding, "but I won't force this on any of you. So, if you want to stay in this place, living her dreams, then I won't stop you."

I turned and looked dead into Suzumiya's eyes and said, "But I want no part of it. If the others want to continue, don't bring me back."

"Kyon," exclaimed Suzumiya. "I don't…"

"That won't be necessary," cut in Koizumi, glancing at the two girls for confirmation. "I think I can speak for the three of us in saying this needs to end. You created us to be your companions Miss Suzumiya and we would be poor friends if we let you suffer any longer."

"The end is inevitable," added Nagato. "It would be best to choose now, then wait until despair has consumed this place and your mind."

"We don't need to be a bleak as that, Miss Nagato," said Asahina with an apologetic smile. "The world out there must have so much to offer you Miss Suzu... Haruhi and I hope can at least take some of your time with us into that life."

"Indeed," said Koizumi with some rather forced enthusiasm. "Miss Suzumiya, for the most part, you created a marvellous world for us here. While things have gone awry here, the imagination and spirit you've shown us will be a blessing on the real world."

"Here you've proven you have the will to seize your own future," said Nagato. "I have no doubt you should be able to do the same out there."

While I had been confident the three of them would agree with me, it was good to hear their support. Even if they didn't look as positive as they sounded, they seemed to have understood the situation. This wasn't about our future, it was about Haruhi Suzumiya's. Who despite everything, I didn't want to see entombed here by her own madness and despair.

"See," I said. "I understand that you're afraid, but I know you have a lot to offer. If you will take that chance."

Suzumiya wasn't looking at any of us, opting to stare at her own feet. A blush colouring her cheeks as she said, "I guess I don't have much choice now do I?

I pondered for a moment, before shrugging and saying, "not really, no. If we could throw you out, we would."

"Oh thanks," snapped Suzumiya with a laugh.

But this moment of humour seemed to clear Suzumiya's mind and she straightened up. Taking a deep breath before striding towards the three other members of the SOS Brigade.

Surveying the trio, Suzumiya smiled. Then bowed with a suddenness that caught everyone off guard. All three watching their leader with increasing alarm and unease. Making Asahina rush forward and lift Suzumiya's face, smiling as she whispered reassurances.

"No Mikuru, I do need to apologise," said Suzumiya. "I did some horrible things to all of you, things that I can never make amends for. I've treated you like playthings when I should have treated you like the true friends that you are."

Suzumiya gave another awkward bow, unused to such formalities. As she rose Koizumi considered her, expression shifting as he tried to keep his emotions in check. "This has certainly been a day for seeing things I never thought possible," Koizumi said. "To the point where I'm not quite sure of what I should say. So I suppose my only choice is to accept your apologies."

He gave Suzumiya a weak smile, but the awkwardness only grew as a mutter of disapproval in the silence. Everyone looking at the source, standing apart and looking even more stoic than usual.

Suzumiya walked over and faced her, but Nagato did not meet her eye. A sad smile edged Suzumiya's lips as she looked down at Nagato, who only stared back at Suzumiya's shoulder. Then after a deep breath, our leader wrapped her arms around the little brigade member. Nagato tried to fight it, but then closed her eyes and accepted the embrace.

Suzumiya gripped Nagato's shoulders and said, "Out of everyone here Yuki, I put you through the most. So, my apologies are pretty meaningless, aren't they?"

"It's more than I expected to ever receive," said Nagato. "So there is conciliation in that. But the only true thanks you can give me, is to end this, forever."

Suzumiya's smile dropped and turned into a sad sigh. "You guys are sure about this, aren't you," she said, turning to look at me. Hoping that I'd changed my mind, even though she knew that I hadn't.

"It's time Suzumiya," I said. "Time to bring this to a close."

"We could go back to the party for a bit," Suzumiya said with a hint of desperation. "You know, one last hurrah or something."

I looked at her hopeful smile and shook my head.

Suzumiya's shoulders sagged and she turned away. Looking forlornly at the stars outside she said, "Okay then."

Above us, the stars began to fade as daybreak approached with unsettling speed. Leaving only two stars in the sky, ones that seemed to cling on as long as they could. But were soon engulfed by the bright light of the morning sun. The light grew until it consumed the club room, burning everything away in its warm embrace.

The light faded until it revealed the school gates on a bright spring day. A light breeze ruffled our hair and blew the cherry blossom around us like pink snow. The five members of the SOS Brigade standing together in crisp uniforms as we basked in the warmth of the sun. The vague cheers and laughter of graduation echoing around us.

"I felt it might be appropriate," said Suzumiya. Looking unsettled as she hopped from foot to foot.

An awkwardness that carried into the silence that ran between the five of us. As the Brigade readied itself to send their great leader off into a new world.

"I guess this is goodbye then," said Suzumiya. Who, unable to take the tension any longer, rushed over to Asahina and pulled her into a hug.

Their voices were muffled for a moment, until I heard Asahina say, "you are not the same person you were before. Take all your experiences here and find something new out there."

Thanking her, Suzumiya turned to Koizumi and embraced him too. Though this was more awkward and they ended up laughing together. "You wasted your passion on us," Koizumi said with a smile. "Go out there and create something real, let the world see what the real you can do."

Suzumiya blushed a little and they laughed again. Koizumi bowed his head and let Suzumiya step over to Nagato. Who stopped the hug before it started, instead allowing Suzumiya to clasp her hands. "You may feel like you've done inexcusable things in the world beyond this place," said Nagato. "But there is always room for forgiveness or at least the chance to move past your mistakes."

Letting go of Nagato's hands, Suzumiya hugged her anyway. Whispering something that made Nagato's eyes go wide for a moment, before they parted.

As she approached me I said, "if you're expecting some sage bit of advice, I'm afraid I've got nothing."

With a dramatic sigh, Suzumiya said, "I guess I shouldn't find that surprising. But still a goodbye would be nice."

I opened my arms with a smile and Suzumiya stepped into my embrace. I heard a quiet sob as she pressed herself against my shoulder and whispered, "I'm scared, Kyon."

I pulled her close, feeling the temptation to change my mind growing. To stay with Suzumiya in my arms forever, to keep her in this fake world for myself. But I couldn't do it, for soon this place would consume all that made Suzumiya the girl I loved. Leaving only a monster driven by madness and despair.

No, the only chance to save Suzumiya's soul was out there, in a place where I was only a spark of imagination. A memory that I hoped would be a fond one, as she lived a real and no doubt extraordinary, life.

I kissed her on the forehead and Suzumiya looked up at me. "Go out there and show someone the love you've shown me," I said. "Someone who can give you real love in return."

Suzumiya buried her face in my blazer again and muttered, "it always felt real to me."

I smiled and stroked Suzumiya's hair, allowing myself to hold her for one moment more. Then as I thought to let her go, I felt a sudden sharp yank on my tie.

The explosive feeling of her lips against mine. The surprise leaving me only a second to adjust as I pulled Suzumiya in as close as I could. It was only a moment, but it felt like an age and part of me hoped it would be. But as soon as it had begun, our lips parted and Suzumiya spun away from me.

Trying to hide her face from me, Suzumiya began to walk away. Stopping for a second to say, "I guess this is goodbye then?"

General cries of farewell and good luck sounded from the others, but Suzumiya kept her back to us. She waved without turning and walked with awkward steps down the hill.

"Get out there and wow the world," I yelled after her. "Show them all who you really are."

She stopped, then spun around to face us. Even from this distance, I saw sunlight glittering on the tears on her cheeks.

With a dramatic pose, she cried, "of course I will. Because you know who I am, I'm Haruhi Suzumiya!"

And with that, my great leader, my creator and my love. Was gone.

As her last proclamation echoed amongst the cherry trees, all the other sound faded away. The birds singing in the wind tousled trees were silenced as the pink petals turned grey. All the colours in the world seeping away to leave only pencil outlines. That began to swiftly unravel, racing from the background to the foreground.

I looked at the others as we stood alone in a white world. My smile turning grim as I watched the colour vanishing from Koizumi's hair. Asahina in panic pulled him to her and they kissed as her auburn hair turned grey. Staying in that embrace as they turned into tone and pen. Then simple outlines and finally nothing.

I looked down at Nagato and for a moment, I thought she was going to try the same. But instead, we laughed as I hugged her and ruffled her hair. I held on to Nagato as she faded away in my arms. Looking up at me with her large eyes staring into mine until the very last line of her pupils became undone.

Leaving me all alone in an empty world.

For a moment I thought I was trapped here, but then I saw the colours in my hands ebbing away. Watching with fascination as the details in my knuckles became undone, line by line. Any fear in my heart flowing away with it, leaving only relief and an overwhelming sense of peace.

My last hope being that our creator, the crazy girl called Haruhi Suzumiya would remember us and her life here. That she would find the peace and happiness that had eluded her here, out there in the waking world. That she'd find the true love that I had been unable to give.

And with that everything that was me, the boy known only as Kyon, became only a memory.

 _In a world more real than this, Haruhi Suzumiya woke up, with tears in her eyes._


End file.
